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Chester  Harvey  Rowell 


AMERICANISM 

AND 

PREPAREDNESS 


Speeches 

of 

Theodore  Roosevelt 

July  to  November,  1916 


NEW  YORK,   1917 
THE  MAIL  AND  EXPRESS  JOB   PRINT 

.154 


E.757 

H  f  i c 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Duty  First.    Lewiston,  Maine,  August  31,  1916 5 

Words  and  Deeds.    Battle  Creek,  Michigan,  September 

30,  1916  30 

The  Square  Deal  in  Industry.    Wilkes-Barre,  Pennsyl- 
vania, Oct.  14,  1916 62 

\ 

The  Mexican  Iniquity.     Phoenix,  Arizona,  October  21, 

1916    92 

Preparedness:     Military,     Industrial     and     Spiritual. 

Denver,  Colorado,  October  24,  1916 103 

True   Americanism   and   National   Defense.    Chicago, 

Illinois,  October  26,  1916 121 

The  Soul  of  the  Nation.     Cooper  Union,  New  York, 

November  3,  1916 134 


M587983 


DUTY  FIRST 

Lewiston,  Maine,  August  31,  1916 


I  COME  here  to  Maine  to  advocate  the  election  of  Charles 
E.  Hughes  as  President  of  the  United  States,  and  the 
election  of  a  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  to  support 
him,  and  to  give  some  of  the  reasons  why  in  my  judgment 
it  would  be  a  grave  misfortune  for  the  people  of  the  United 
States  to  re-elect  Mr.  Wilson. 

I  make  no  merely  partisan  appeal.  I  ask  the  support  of 
all  good  citizens  for  our  cause.  I  ask  the  support  of  all  good 
Americans.  And  I  not  merely  ask,  but  demand  as  a  matter 
of  right,  that  every  citizen  voting  this  year  shall  consider 
the  question  at  issue  from  the  standpoint  of  America,  and 
not  from  the  standpoint  of  any  other  nation. 

The  root  idea  of  American  citizenship,  the  necessary 
prerequisite  for  patriotic  service  at  home,  and  for  service 
to  mankind  at  large,  is  that  there  shall  be  in  our  citizenship 
no  dual  allegiance.  There  must  be  no  divided  loyalty  be- 
tween this  country  and  the  country  from  which  any  of  our 
citizens,  or  the  ancestors  of  any  of  our  citizens,  have  come. 
The  policy  of  the  United  States  must  be  shaped  with  a  view 
to  two  conditions  only :  first,  with  a  view  to  the  honor  and 
interest  of  the  United  States,  and  second,  with  a  view  to  the 
interest  of  the  world  as  a  whole.  It  is  therefore  our  high 
and  solemn  duty,  both  to  prepare  our  own  strength  so  as 
to  guarantee  our  own  safety,  and  also  to  treat  every  foreign 
nation,  in  any  given  crisis,  as  its  conduct  in  that  crisis  de- 
mands. The  citizen  who  does  not  so  act,  and  who  endeavors 
to  shape  America's  policy  in  the  interest  of  the  country  from 
which  he  or  his  ancestors  have  sprung,  is  no  true  American, 
and  has  no  moral  right  to  citizenship  in  this  country.  Any 
attempt  to  organize  American  citizens  along  politico-racial 
lines  is  a  foul  and  evil  thing.  Any  organization  of  American 
citizens  which  acts  in  the  interest  of  a  foreign  power  is 


6  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

guilty  of  moral  treason  to  the  Republic.  It  is  because  of 
such  action  that  I  condemn  those  professional  German- 
Americans  who  in  our  politics  act  as  servants  and  allies  of 
Germany,  not  as  Americans  interested  solely  in  the  honor 
and  welfare  of  America;  and  I  would  condemn  just  as  quick- 
ly English-Americans  or  French- Americans  or  Irish-Ameri- 
cans who  acted  in  such  manner. 

Americanism  is  a  matter  of  the  spirit,  of  the  soul,  of 
the  mind;  not  of  birthplace  or  creed.  We  care  nothing  as 
to  where  any  man  was  born,  or  as  to  the  land  from  which 
his  forefathers  came,  so  long  as  he  is  wholeheartedly  and 
in  good  faith  an  American  and  nothing  else.  If  the  man  is 
a  good  American  we  care  nothing  as  to  his  creed,  whether 
he  be  Protestant,  Catholic  or  Jew ;  we  care  nothing  whether 
his  ancestors  came  over  in  the  Mayflower,  or  whether  he 
himself  was  born  in  England  or  Ireland,  in  France  or  Ger- 
many, in  Scandinavia  or  Russia.  Some  of  the  very  best 
Americans  I  have  ever  known  were  men  who  were  born 
abroad ;  and  in  every  great  period  of  American  history,  the 
Americans  who  deserved  best  of  their  country  have  included 
men  of  different  creeds ;  men  whose  ancestors  had  for  gen- 
erations lived  on  this  soil ;  and  other  men  who  themselves,  or 
whose  parents,  had  come  from  some  of  the  lands  of  the 
Old  World.  But  all  these  men  alike  a'cted  as  Americans  and 
nothing  else,  and  with  an  undivided  loyalty  to  this  nation, 
and  not  with  a  half -loyalty  to  this  nation  and  a  half -loyalty 
to  some  Old  World  nation. 

Wilson  Lacked  Both  Courage  and  Vision 

During  the  last  two  years  we  have  seen  an  evil  revival 
in  this  country  of  non-American  and  anti-American  division 
along  politico-racial  lines ;  and  we  owe  this  primarily  to  the 
fact  that  President  Wilson  has  lacked  the  courage  and  the 
vision  to  lead  this  nation  in  the  path  of  high  duty,  and  by 
this  lack  of  affirmative  leadership  has  loosened  the  moral 
fibre  of  our  people,  has  weakened  our  national  spirit,  and 
has  encouraged  the  upgrowth  within  our  own  borders  of 
separatism  along  the  lines  of  racial  origin.  When  our  own 
government  so  acted  as  to  bring  shame  on  all  our  people,  it 
shook  the  spirit  of  loyalty  among  those  to  whom  it  was 


Duty  First  1 

vital  that  loyalty  should  be  taught.  Full-hearted  allegiance 
is  shattered  by  the  government  that  fails  to  uphold  the 
honor  and  interest  of  the  nation  by  immediate  and  effective 
action  when  the  lives  of  its  citizens  are  menaced  or  taken 
by  foreign  powers. 

The  cause  of  preparedness  is  inseparably  connected 
with  the  cause  of  Americanism,  of  patriotism,  of  whole- 
hearted loyalty  to  this  nation  and  to  all  for  which  all  the 
great  men  of  this  nation  in  the  past  have  stood.  The  events 
of  the  last  two  years  have  made  it  evident  that  the  dreams 
of  the  professional  pacifists  were  not  merely  dreams  but 
nightmares,  so  far  as  the  unfortunate  nations  who  trusted 
them  were  concerned.  Moreover,  in  practice  these  pacifists 
have  shown  not  only  utter  futility  but  moral  baseness.  They 
have  not  only  been  helpless  to  defend  themselves,  but  they 
have  been  so  anxious  to  save  their  own  skins  that  they  have 
not  dared  to  say  one  word  against  triumphant  wrong  and 
in  favor  of  the  right  that  was  crushed  by  the  wrong.  There 
are  few  things  more  revolting  than  such  an  attitude  when 
taken  by  professional  moralists. 

As  the  world  now  is,  our  great  free  democracy  must 
understand  that  unless  it  can  protect  itself  by  its  own 
strength — and  its  strength  is  not  strength  at  all  unless  it 
is  carefully  trained  in  advance — it  will  sooner  or  later  suffer 
the  fate  that  China  is  suffering  before  our  eyes.  Thanks 
to  the. fact  that  President  Wilson  has  sometimes  led  us 
wrong,  and  sometimes  not  led  us  at  all,  and  that  at  the  best 
he  has  .merely  followed  afar  off  when  convinced  that  it  was 
politically  safe  to  do  so,  we  are  at  this  moment  no  more 
prepared  to  defend  ourselves  than  we  were  two  years  ago 
when  the  world  war  broke  out.  At  last  we  have  begun  the 
work  of  restoring  our  navy  to  the  position  it  formerly  held ; 
but  it  will  take  years  to  undo  the  harm  done  when  in  1910 
the  Democratic  party  gained  control  of  the  House  and 
stopped  upbuilding  the  navy;  and  it  is  entirely  impossible 
to  make  the  navy  what  it  should  be  made  as  long  as  we  have 
a  President  who  appoints  and  retains  at  its  head  a  public 
official  of  the  type  of  Mr.  Daniels.  Our  regular  army  should 
be  increased  to  a  quarter  of  a  million  men,  with  a  short- 
service  term  of  enlistment ;  this  would  give  us  a  mobile  army 


8  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

of  125,000  men,  enough  to  patrol  the  Mexican  border  with- 
out help  from  the  National  Guard,  when  Mr.  Wilson  halts 
between  feeble  peace  and  feeble  war.  But  this  is  not  enough. 
The  events  of  the  past  two  years  have  shown  that  no  people 
can  permanently  preserve  its  freedom  unless  that  people  is 
trained  to  arms.  Above  all,  this  is  true  of  a  democracy. 
The  enjoyment  of  right  must  go  hand  in  hand  with  the  per- 
formance of  duty.  Universal  suffrage  cannot  be  justified 
unless  it  connotes  the  performance  by  every  voter  of  full 
duty  to  the  state  both  in  peace  and  in  war.  The  man  who 
refuses  to  fit  himself  to  fight  in  righteous  war  for  his  coun- 
try is  not  fit  to  vote  in  that  country.  We  should  follow  the 
examples  of  the  free  democracies  of  Switzerland  and  Aus- 
tralia. There  should  be  in  this  country  a  system  of  uni- 
versal obligatory  military  training  in  time  of  peace,  and 
in  time  of  war  universal  service  in  whatever  capacity  the 
man  or  woman  shall  be  judged  most  fit  to  serve  the  com- 
monwealth. 

An  Injustice  to  Pontius  Pilate 

The  policies  of  Americanism  and  preparedness,  taken 
together,  mean  applied  patriotism.  There  should  be  cor- 
relation of  policy  and  armament.  Our  first  duty  as  citizens 
of  the  United  States  is  owed  to  the  United  States.  But  if 
we  are  true  to  our  principles  we  must  also  think  of  serving 
the  interests  of  mankind  at  large.  In  addition  to  serving 
our  own  country  we  must  shape  the  policy  of  our  country 
so  as  to  secure  the  cause  of  international  righteousness,  fair 
play  and  humanity.  Our  first  duty  is  to  protect  our  own 
rights;  our  second,  to  stand  up  for  the  rights  of  others. 
President  Wilson  has  signally  failed  to  perform  either  duty. 
They  can  be  performed  only  by  deed.  Words  alone  are  use- 
less. But,  above  all,  fine  words  about  abstract  qualities  which 
are  contradicted  by  unworthy  deeds  in  concrete  cases  are 
much  worse  than  useless,  because  they  teach  us  habits  of 
hypocrisy,  and  because  they  cause  other  nations  to  regard 
us  with  utter  contempt.  President  Wilson  in  his  Decoration 
Day  speech  said:  "We  hold  dear  the  principle  that  small 
and  weak  states  have  as  much  right  to  their  sovereignty  and 
independence  as  large  and  strong  nations."  These  were  the 
fine  words.  They  were  spoken  about  the  abstract.  When 


Duty  First  9 

it  became  his  duty  to  reduce  them  to  deeds  in  the  concrete, 
Mr.  Wilson  immediately  flinched.  The  case  of  Belgium  ex- 
actly met  his  definition.  It  was  a  small  and  weak  state  (and 
a  highly  civilized  and  well-behaved  state).  Its  "right  to 
sovereignty  and  independence"  was  trampled  under  foot  by 
a  neighboring  "large  and  strong  nation."  But  as  soon  as 
the  need  for  deeds  arose,  Mr.  Wilson  forgot  all  about  "the 
principle  he  held  dear."  He  promptly  announced  that  we 
should  be  "neutral  in  fact  as  well  as  in  name,  in  thought 
as  well  as  in  action,"  between  the  small,  weak,  unoffending 
nation  and  the  large,  strong  nation  which  was  robbing  it  of 
its  sovereignty  and  independence.  Such  neutrality  has 
been  compared  to  the  neutrality  of  Pontius  Pilate.  This 
is  unjust  to  Pontius  Pilate,  who  at  least  gently*  urged 
moderation  on  the  wrongdoers.  The  President's  fine  words 
were  used  merely  to  cloak  ignoble  action  and  ignoble  in- 
action. All  Americans  proud  of  their  country  should 
keenly  resent  the  wrong  he  thereby  did  their  country.  As 
an  American  with  exceptional  international  knowledge  has 
said :  "  .  .  .A  single  official  expression  by  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States,  a  single  sentence  denying  assent 
and  recording  disapproval  of  what  Germany  did  in  Bel- 
gium, would  have  given  to  the  people  of  America  that  lead- 
ership to  which  they  were  entitled  in  their  earnest  groping 
for  the  light.  It  would  have  ranged  behind  American 
leadership  the  conscience  and  morality  of  the  neutral  world. 
It  would  have  brought  to  American  diplomacy  the  respect 
and  strength  of  loyalty  to  a  great  cause.  But  it  was  not  to 
be.  The  American  Government  failed  to  rise  to  the  de- 
mands of  the  great  occasion.  .  .  ." 

Wilson's  "Peace"  Rages  Furiously  in  Mexico 

At  this  moment  Mr.  Wilson,  and  Mr.  Wilson's  fugle- 
men, advance  as  his  greatest  claim  that  "he  has  kept  us 
out  of  war."  This  claim  can  be  seriously  made  only  by 
individuals  who  endorse  President  Wilson's  belief  that 
deeds  are  nothing,  and  words  everything.  War  means  a 
clash  between  the  armed  forces  of  two  countries.  Nowa- 
days (thanks  quite  as  much  to  the  professional  pacifists 
as  to  the  militarists)  it  means,  furthermore,  the  destruction 


10  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

of  the  lives  of  civilians,  and  the  property  of  civilians,  as 
well  as  the  property  of  the  government.  Under  President 
McKinley  we  had  a  war  with  Spain.  Under  President 
Wilson  we  are  assured  that  we  have  had  "peace"  with 
Mexico.  These  are  the  words.  Now  for  the  deeds.  During 
the  war  with  Spain  fewer  Americans  were  killed  by  the 
Spaniards  than  have  been  killed  by  Mexicans  during  the 
present  "peace"  with  Mexico.  Let  me  repeat  this.  A 
greater  number  of  Americans  have  been  killed  by  Mexicans 
during  these  years,  when  we  are  officially  informed  that  we 
have  been  at  peace  with  them,  than  were  killed  by  the 
Spaniards  during  our  entire  war  with  Spain.  Moreover, 
when  the  war  with  Spain  was  through,  it  was  through. 
But -peace  still  continues  to  rage  as  furiously  as  ever  in 
Mexico.  Nor  is  this  all.  The  instant  effect  of  the  outcome 
of  the  war  with  Spain  was  to  put  a  stop  to  the  dreadful 
butchery  and  starvation  in  Cuba  and  the  Philippines,  and 
the  entry  of  both  Cuba  and  the  Philippines  on  a  career  of 
eighteen  years  of  peace  and  prosperity  such  as  they  have 
never  known  before  in  all  their  checkered  history.  But 
during  these  three  years  of  Mr.  Wilson's  "peace,"  the 
Mexicans  themselves  have  been  butchered  by  their  own 
bandits  steadily  and  without  intermission;  and  Mexican 
women  and  children  have  died  by  thousands — probably  by 
scores  of  thousands — of  starvation,  and  of  the  diseases 
incident  to  starvation.  In  other  words,  Mr.  McKinley's 
war  cost  less  bloodshed  than  Mr.  Wilson's  peace;  and  it 
reflected  high  honor  on  the  American  people;  whereas  Mr. 
Wilson's  peace  has  been  one  of  shame  and  dishonor  for 
the  American  people,  and  one  of  ruin  and  bloodshed  for 
the  Mexicans  themselves. 

The  Life  Cost  of  Wilson's  "Peace" 

Mr.  Wilson  says  we  have  had  peace  with  Mexico.  He 
says  he  did  not  wage  war  with  Mexico.  If  he  takes  any 
comfort  out  of  this  denial,  let  us  not  insist  upon  the  proper 
terminology,  and  admit  that  he  merely  waged  peace  with 
Mexico.  Well,  as  one  incident  of  his  waging  peace  we  took 
Vera  Cruz.  Some  seventy-five  men  wearing  the  American 


Duty  First  11 

uniform  were  killed  and  wounded,  and  three  or  four  times 
that  number  of  Mexicans.  In  Mr.  McKinley's  war  we  took 
Manila;  and  Dewey's  fleet  lost  fewer  men  in  the  operation 
that  resulted  in  the  fall  of  Manila  than  were  lost  in  the 
taking  of  Vera  Cruz.  Under  these  conditions,  of  what 
earthly  consequence  is  it  to  assert  that  the  taking  of  Vera 
Cruz  was  an  act  of  peace,  and  the  taking  of  Manila  an  act 
of  war?  Only  by  a  misuse  of  terminology,  only  by  the  use 
of  an  incorrect  nomenclature,  can  we  distinguish  one  mili- 
tary operation  from  the  other. 

Unlike  McKinley,  Wilson  Quit 

The  real  difference  was  that  Mr.  Wilson  became  fright- 
ened and  abandoned  Vera  Cruz,  whereas  Mr.  McKinley 
did  not  abandon  Manila.  Mr.  Wilson's  operations  were 
war  just  as  much  as  Mr.  McKinley's.  But  Mr.  Wilson  was 
beaten  in  his  war.  It  was  a  war  which  was  entered  into 
pointlessly  and  abandoned  ignobly;  it  was  a  war  which 
failed;  a  war  which  did  damage  both  to  the  Mexicans  and 
ourselves,  and  which  in  its  outcome  reflected  infinite -dis- 
honor upon  our  nation.  But  it  was  a  war,  nevertheless. 

Again,  in  March  last,  Villa  made  a  raid  into  American 
territory.  He  was  a  bandit  leader  whose  career  of  suc- 
cessful infamy  had  been  greatly  aided  by  Mr.  Wilson's 
favor  and  backing.  He  was  at  the  head  of  Mexican  sol- 
diers, whose  arms  and  ammunition  had  been  supplied  to 
them  in  consequence  of  Mr.  Wilson's  reversing  Mr.  Taft's 
policy  and  lifting  the  embargo  against  arms  and  munitions 
into  Mexico.  They  attacked  Columbus,  New  Mexico,  and 
killed  a  number  of  civilians  and  a  number  of  United  States 
troops.  On  the  next  day  the  President  issued  an  an- 
nouncement that  adequate  forces  would  be  sent  in  pursuit 
of  Villa  "with  the  single  object  of  capturing  'him."  On 
April  8th  the  announcement  was  made  from  the  White 
House  that  the  troops  would  remain  in  Mexico  until  Villa 
was  captured.  It  was  furthermore  announced  in  the  press 
despatches  from  Washington  that  he  was  to  be  taken  "dead 
or  alive."  Fine  words!  Only — they  meant  nothing.  He 
is  not  dead.  He  has  not  been  taken  alive. 


12  Americanism,  and  Preparedness 

Wilson's  "Peace"  Cost  More  Lives  Than  McKinley's  War 

On  May  12th,  the  pursuit  of  Villa  was  formally  aban- 
doned. On  June  1st  the  official  figures  of  the  dead  and 
wounded  during  this  futile  expedition  were  published,  and 
they  showed  that  the  killed  and  wounded  included  one  hun- 
dred and  sixteen  United  States  soldiers  and  ninety-five 
American  civilians.  Since  then  the  Mexicans  have  killed 
many  more;  I  notice,  for  example,  in  the  press,  that  at 
Decatur,  Alabama,  there  has  just  been  buried  Claude  Bates, 
an  American  soldier,  who  died  July  24th  of  wounds  re- 
ceived two  days  previously  in  a  fight  with  Mexican  bandits. 
Every  week  I  have  seen  press  statements  of  the  killing  of 
American  regular  soldiers  or  American  civilians  on  the 
border.  I  do  not  know  the  total  number  of  these  killings 
since  June  1st;  but  they  include  the  Carrizal  massacre. 
However,  even  before  June  1st,  in  this  futile  expedition 
against  Villa,  more  Americans  had  been  killed  and  wounded 
than  in  all  the  fights  by  land  and  sea  during  the  Spanish 
War;  save  only  the  battle  of  Santiago  itself.  In  other 
words,  during  this  murderous  "peace"  of  Messrs.  Wilson 
and  Carranza,  in  less  than  three  months  more  American 
blood  was  shed  than  in  the  destruction  of  the  Spanish  fleet 
at  Manila,  and  than  in  the  destruction  of  the  Spanish  fleet 
off  Santiago;  and  than  in  the  taking  of  Manila;  and  than 
in  the  fight  at  Guasimas;  in  short,  in  all  the  operations 
combined  during  the  Spanish  War,  save  only  the  actual 
battle  of  Santiago  itself.  And  yet  there  are  persons  who 
seemingly  take  comfort  in  speaking  of  one  set  of  opera- 
tions as  being  war,  and  who  praise  the  other  set  as  being 
part  of  our  "policy  of  peace" — the  blood-stained  peace  of 
Messrs.  Wilson  and  Carranza. 

You  do  not  have  to  accept  my  statement  of  conditions 
in  Mexico.  Accept  the  official  statement  of  President  Wil- 
son's Secretary  of  State  to  Carranza  on  June  20th  last, 
which  runs  as  follows: 

The  Ghastly  Official  Record 

"For  three  years  the  Mexican  republic  has  been  torn 
with  civil  strife;  the  lives  of  Americans  and  other  aliens 
have  been  sacrificed ;  vast  properties  accumulated  by  Amer- 


Duty  First  13 

lean  capital  and  enterprise  have  been  destroyed  or  rendered 
non-productive;  bandits  have  been  permitted  to  roam  at 
will  throughout  the  territory  contiguous  to  the  United 
States  and  to  seize,  without  punishment,  or  without  effec- 
tive attempt  at  punishment,  the  property  of  Americans, 
while  the  lives  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  who  ven- 
tured to  remain  in  Mexican  territory  or  to  return  there  to 
protect  their  interests  have  been  taken,  in  some  cases  bar- 
barously taken,  and  the  murderers  have  neither  been  ap- 
prehended nor  brought  to  justice.  It  would  be  difficult  to 
find  in  the  annals  of  the  history  of  Mexico  conditions  more 
deplorable  than  those  which  have  existed  there  during  these 
recent  years  of  civil  war.  It  would  be  tedious  to  recount 
instance  after  instance,  outrage  after  outrage,  atrocity 
after  atrocity,  to  illustrate  the  true  nature  and  extent  of 
the  widespread  condition  of  lawlessness  and  violence  which 
has  prevailed.  During  the  last  nine  months  in  particular 
the  frontier  of  the  United  States  along  the  lower  Rio 
Grande  has  been  thrown  into  a  state  of  constant  appre- 
hension and  turmoil  because  of  the  frequent  and  sudden 
incursions  into  American  territory  and  depredations  and 
murders  on  American  soil  by  Mexican  bandits,  who  have 
taken  the  lives  and  destroyed  the  property  of  American 
citizens,  sometimes  carrying  American  citizens  across  the 
international  boundary  with  the  booty  seized.  American 
garrisons  have  been  attacked  at  night,  American  soldiers 
killed  and  their  equipment  and  horses  stolen,  American 
ranches  have  been  raided,  property  stolen  and  destroyed, 
and  American  trains  wrecked  and  plundered. 

"The  attacks  on  Brownsville,  Red  House  Ferry,  Pro- 
greso  postoffice,  and  Las  Palades,  all  occurring  during  Sep- 
tember last,  are  typical.  In  these  attacks  on  American  ter- 
ritory Carranzista  adherents,  and  even  Carranzista  sol- 
diers, took  part  in  the  looting,  burning  and  killing.  Not 
only  were  these  murders  characterized  by  ruthless  bru- 
tality, but  uncivilized  acts  of  mutilation  were  perpetrated." 

Wilson  Kissed  the  Red  Hand  That  Slapped  His  Face 

And  this  is  Mr.  Wilson's  own  official  account  of  the 
"peace"  he  has  secured  in  Mexico!  In  this  official  state- 


14  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

merit  President  Wilson  gives  the  final  result  of  his  policy 
in  Mexico  for  the  past  three  years.  I  call  your  attention 
to  the  fact  that  he  states  that  the  attacks  on  the  four  enumer- 
ated American  towns  in  September  last  were  "typical," 
and  says  that  "in  these  attacks  on  American  territory  there 
were  Carranzista  adherents  and  Carranzista  soldiers,  who 
took  part  in  the  burning  and  killing.  Not  only  were  these 
murders  characterized  by  ruthless  brutality,  but  uncivilized 
acts  of  mutilation  were  perpetrated." 

President  Wilson  therefore  explicitly  shows  that  the 
Carranzistas,  not  once  but  repeatedly,  made  attacks  on 
American  towns,  and  killed  American  citizens,  and  muti- 
lated them  in  September,  1915.  Yet  on  October  19th,  1915, 
less  than  a  month  later,  this  same  President  Wilson, 
through  his  same  Secretary  of  State,  formally  announced 
to  Carranza's  agent  that  it  was  his  "pleasure"  to  take  the 
opportunity  "of  extending  recognition  to  the  de  facto  gov- 
ernment of  Mexico,  of  which  General  Venustiano  Car- 
ranza  is  the  chief  executive."  President  Wilson  thus  recog- 
nized the  government  which,  his  own  Secretary  of  State 
declares,  had  been,  less  than  a  month  previously,  engaged 
in  repeated  assaults  upon  Americans,  and  in  the  invasion 
of  American  soil;  the  government  at  whose  head  was  Gen- 
eral Carranza,  who,  less  than  two  months  previously,  on 
August  2nd,  1915,  had  contemptuously  refused  to  pay  any 
heed  to  any  representations  of  President  Wilson  on  behalf 
of  mediation,  saying  that  "under  no  consideration  would  I 
permit  interference  in  the  internal  affairs  of  Mexico." 
President  Wilson  did  not  merely  kiss  the  hand  that  slapped 
him  in  the  face.  He  kissed  that  hand  when  it  was  red 
with  the  blood  of  American  men,  women  and  children,  who 
had  been  murdered  and  mutilated  with,  as  President  Wil- 
son, through  his  Secretary  of 'State,  says,  "ruthless  bru- 
tality." 

Wilson's  Shameful  Orders  at  Tampico 

In  all  this  shameful  history  of  Mr.  Wilson's  dealings 
with  Mexico  during  the  past  three  years,  nothing  has  been 
more  shameful  than  his  conduct  at  Tampico. 

At  that  time  the  particular  bandit  Mr.  Wilson  was 
favoring  happened  to  be  Villa.  This,  however,  is  of  no 


Duty  First  15 

consequence.  Mr.  Wilson  has  sometimes  helped  the  dif- 
ferent Mexican  leaders  of  bandits  against  one  another ;  now 
Villa  against  Huerta;  now  Carranza  against  Villa;  but  he 
has  never  stood  up  effectively  for  American  rights  against 
any  of  them.  When  he  has  ventured  to  take  action  against 
any  of  them  he  has  always  hastily  abandoned  the  attempt 
as  soon  as  the  resistance  by  the  bandit  involved  became 
serious. 

At  Tampico  there  was  a  general  movement  of  attack 
by  the  Mexicans  on  Americans  and  other  foreigners.  We 
had  a  squadron  of  American  warships  in  the  neighborhood. 
President  Wilson  did  not  use  this  squadron  to  defend  the 
lives  of  American  men,  and  the  honor  of  American  women, 
and  the  commanders  of  the  German  and  English  ships  at 
Tampico  had  to  step  in  and  perform  the  task  our  representa- 
tives had  so  basely  abandoned.  At  the  very  time  that  the 
Mexican  mob  had  surrounded  the  building  in  which  the 
Americans  had  taken  refuge,  and  was  howling  for  their 
blood,,  the  American  fleet,  under  orders  to  join  the  futile 
attack  on  Vera  Cruz,  steamed  away  and  left  the  Americans 
to  be  massacred  by  the  Mexicans,  or  rescued  by  the  Germans 
and  English.  I  wish  to  say  with  all  gravity  and  in  all  seri- 
ousness that  in  this  case  the  offense  of  the  murderous  Mexi- 
can mob  was  not  as  serious  as  the  offense  of  the  American 
administration. 

Watched  Americans  Die  Like  Rats 

On  August  27th,  1913,  President  Wilson  said  with 
marked  oratorical  effect:  "We  shall  vigilantly  watch  the 
fortunes  of  those  Americans  who  cannot  get  away  from 
Mexico."  "Vigilant  watching" — "watchful  waiting" — the 
phrase  matters  nothing;  for  there  never  is  any  deed  to 
back  it  up.  Three  years  have  passed  since  the  date  of  this 
oration;  three  years  of  incessant  elocution  on  the  part  of 
Mr.  Wilson;  three  years  of  repeated  invocations  to  human- 
ity and  peace  by  Mr.  Wilson;  and  Mr.  Wilson  still  con- 
tinues to  "vigilantly  watch  the  fortunes  of  those  Americans 
who  cannot  get  away."  There  are  not;many  of  them  left 
now.  Hundreds  have  been  killed,  and  Mr.  Wilson  has 
watched  their  fortunes  as  disinterestedly  as  if  they  had 


16  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

been  rats  pursued  by  terriers.  This  administration  has 
displayed  no  more  feeling  of  responsibility  for  the  Ameri- 
can women  who  have  been  raped,  and  for  the  American 
men,  women  and  children  who  have  been  killed  in  Mexico, 
than  a  farmer  shows  for  the  rats  killed  by  his  dogs  when 
the  hay  is  taken  from  a  barn.  And  now  the  American  peo- 
ple are  asked  to  sanction  this  policy  in  the  name  of  peace, 
righteousness  and  humanity! 

A  Single-Track  Mind  With  Great  Switching  Facilities 

Throughout  this  time  President  Wilson,  in  pursuance 
of  the  policy  he  enunciated  in  his  message  to  Congress  in 
December,  1914,  has  kept  this  country  unprepared  to  fight 
any  foreign  foe.  But  he  has  allowed  all  of  the  factions  in 
Mexico  to  prepare  themselves  to  kill  American  soldiers  and 
American  civilians.  In  his  message  above  quoted  he  says 
that  he  will  "Follow  the  best  practice  of  nations  in  matters 
of  neutrality  by  forbidding  the  exportation  of  arms  and 
munitions  of  war  of  any  kind  from  the  United  States  to 
any  part  of  the  Republic  of  Mexico."  This  was  on  August 
27th,  1913.  On  February  2nd,  1914,  he  changed  his  mind 
(Mr.  Wilson  may  have  a  single-track  mind,  but,  as  has  been 
remarked,  in  that  event  he  possesses  unexampled  switching 
facilities)  and  lifted  the  embargo  on  arms  and  munitions. 
On  February  5th  the  papers  published  the  news  of  the 
great  rush  of  arms  and  ammunition  across  the  border  to 
the  Mexican  armies.  A  couple  of  hundred  of  American 
soldiers,  sailors,  and  civilians  were  killed  or  wounded  dur- 
ing the  next  two  months.  >  And  on  April  23rd,  1914,  Mr. 
Wilson  again  changed  his  mind  and  ordered  that  the  em- 
bargo on  arms  be  restored.  But  on  May  15th  he  changed 
his  mind  again,  and  the  embargo  was  lifted  so  far  as  ship- 
ments to  Tampico  and  other  Mexican  ports  were  concerned. 
On  May  27th,  the  cargoes  of  arms  which  we  had  refused 
to  allow  to  land  at  Vera  Cruz  were  accordingly  landed  else- 
where and  sent  to  Huerta;  while  on  June  2nd,  the  Car- 
ranzistas  got  theirs  through  Tampico.  On  September  9th, 
the  embargo  was  lifted  everywhere,  and  during  the  next 
few  months  military  supplies  of  all  kinds  crossed  the  bor- 
der for  all  of  the  Mexican  factions. 


Duty  First  17 

At  Least  276  Americans  Murdered 

On  October  29th,  1915,  when  all  the  factions  had  been 
amply  supplied,  Mr.  Wilson  again  restored  the  embargo 
as  to  all  factions,  excepting  the  Carranzistas.  On  October 
29th  last,  therefore,  Mr.  Wilson  specifically  permitted  arms 
to  be  sent  the  adherents  of  the  very  same  Carranza,  who, 
according  to  his  own  Secretary  of  State,  in  the  month  of 
September,  thirty  days  previous,  on  four  specific  occasions, 
invaded  American  territory  and  butchered  American  citi- 
Szens,  mutilating  them  before  or  after  death.  On  the  date 
when  this  embargo  was  thus  raised,  the  names  of  two 
hundred  and  seventy-six  Americans  who  had  been  mur- 
dered had  been  officially  placed  on  file.  How  many  others 
had  been  murdered  cannot  at  present  be  told. 

President  Wilson  took  Vera  Cruz  in  1914,  as  we  were 
officially  informed  at  the  time,  to  get  a  salute  for  the  flag, 
and  to  prevent  the  shipment  of  arms  into  Mexico.  He  did 
not  get  his  salute.  He  did  not  prevent  the  shipment  of  arms. 
But  several  hundred  men  were  killed  or  wounded ;  and  Ihen 
he  brought  {he  army  home  without  achieving  either  object. 
President  Wilson  sent  an  army  into  Mexico  in  1916,  as  we 
were  informed  at  the  time,  to  get  Villa  "dead  or  alive."  They 
did  not  get  him  dead.  They  did  not  get  him  alive.  Again 
several  hundred  men  were  killed  or  wounded.  Again 
President  Wilson  is  bringing  the  army  home  without  achiev- 
ing his  object.  Of  course  it  is  a  mere  play  upon  words  to 
say  that  these  were  not  "wars."  They  were  wars,  and  noth- 
ing else;  ignoble,  pointless,  unsuccessful  little  wars;  but 
wars.  They  cost  millions  of  dollars  and  hundreds  of  lives, 
squandered  to  no  purpose;  they  accomplished  nothing;  but 
they  were  wars.  And  yet  Mr.  Wilson's  defenders  say  that 
he  "has  kept  us  out  of  war."  As  a  matter  of  fact,  his  policy 
in  Mexico  has  combined  all  the  evils  of  feeble  peace  with  all 
the  evils  of  feeble  war.  He  has  secured  none  of  the  benefits 
of  war;  but  he  has  not  avoided  war.  He  has  sacrificed  the 
honor  and  the  interest  of  the  country;  but  he  has  not  re- 
ceived the  thirty  pieces  bf  silver.  In  fact,  when  Mr.  Wilson 
forgets  himself  he  admits  that  we  have  been  at  war ;  for  ex- 
ample, on  May  llth,  1914,  in  an  address  over  the  dead  ma- 


18  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

rines  at  the  Navy  Yard  in  Brooklyn  (in  which,  by  the  way, 
he  in  effect  claimed  sympathy  on  the  ground  that  his  feel- ' 
ings  had  been  as  much  lacerated  by  sneers  as  the  bodies  of 
the  dead  men  by  bullets) ,  he  said  that  the  marines  had  been 
engaged  in  a  "war  of  service."  A  war  of  service  to  whom 
or  what  ?  Certainly  not  to  the  United  States ;  nor  to  Mexico ; 
nor  to  humanity  at  large.  Was  it  to  Mr.  Wilson  ? 

Wilson's  Futile  Spasms 

As  it  is  with  "war"  so  it  is  with  "intervention."  Presi- 
dent Wilson  has  again  and  again  said  he  would  not  "inter- 
vene" in  Mexico.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  he  has  intervened  con- 
tinuously. On  January  8th,  1915,  he  announced  that  the 
Mexicans  had  the  right  to  "spill  blood,"  to  spill  as  much 
blood  as  they  pleased,  without  interference.  The  fact  that 
the  blood  they  were  spilling  included  the  blood  of  American 
citizens,  both  soldiers  and  civilians — and  among  them 
women  and  children — evidently  did  not  weigh  with  him.  On 
December  10th,  1915,  he  said  that  it  was  "None  of  our  busi- 
ness what  the  Mexicans  did  with  their  government,  and  so 
long  as  I  have  the  power  to  prevent  it  nobody  shall  butt-in 
to  alter  it  for  them."  Yet  at  that  very  time  he  had  been 
"butting-in"  for  two  years,  and  he  has  been  "butting-in" 
ever  since ;  and  he  has  avowed  that  he  wished  to  alter  it  for 
them  in  all  kinds  of  ways,  from  land  tenures  up  and  down. 
But  as  he  never  followed  any  policy  of  either  intervention 
or  non-intervention  with  any  resolution — always  yielding 
at  the  critical  moment  to  some  bandit  chief  of  whom  he  be- 
came fearful — both  his  spasms  of  intervention  and  his 
spasms  of  non-intervention  have  alike  been  entirely  futile. 
In  August,  1913,  he  sent  a  special  envoy  to  Mexico  to  tell 
Huerta  he  would  not  recognize  him.  He  announced  this 
himself  in  a  note  in  October,  and  on  December  2nd  he  an- 
nounced he  would  not  deal  with  the  Huerta  Government. 
This  was  intervention,  and  nothing  else ;  it  was  such  inter- 
vention as  if  in  1877  some  European  government  had  de- 
clined to  recognize  Hayes  as  President,  and  insisted  upon 
the  seating  of  Tilden.  Mr.  Wilson  intervened  when  he  backed 
Villa  against  Huerta.  He  intervened  when  he  turned  against 
Villa,  and  recognized  Carranza. 


Duty  First  19 

At  one  time  Mr.  Wilson's  policy  of  intervention  pro- 
duced such  unhappy  results  that  on  June  2nd,  1915,  he 
issued  a  formal  warning  to  the  Mexican  factions  in  which 
he  said  that  "Mexico  is  apparently  no  nearer  a  solution  of  her 
tragical  troubles  than  she  was  when  the  revolution  was  first 
kindled.  She  has  been  swept  by  civil  war  as  if  by  fire.  Her 
crops  are  destroyed,  her  cattle  confiscated,  her  people  flee 
to  the  mountains  to  escape  being  drawn  into  unavailing 
bloodshed,  and  no  man  seems  to  see  or  lead  the  way  to  peace 
and  settled  order.  There  is  no  proper  protection  either  for 
her  own  citizens  or  for  the  citizens  of  other  nations  resident 
and  at  work  within  her  territory.  Mexico  is  starving  and 
without  a  government."  A  delightful  picture  of  the  effects 
of  Mr.  Wilson's  policy,  by  the  way!  He  therefore  tells 
Mexico  that  unless  "within  a  very  short  time"  the  Mexican 
leaders  get  together  for  the  relief  and  redemption  of  their 
prostrate  country  the  United  States  "will  be  constrained  to 
decide  what  means  should  be  employed"  to  deal  with  the 
situation.  But,  as  usual  with  Mr.  Wilson,  this  solemn  warn- 
ing meant  precisely  and  exactly  nothing,  and  the  Carran- 
zistas  and  Villistas  and  the  rest  knew  that  it  meant  pre- 
cisely nothing.  They  knew  that  Mr.  Wilson  would  either  not 
back  up  his  words  by  deeds  at  all  or  else  that  he  would  back 
them  up  so  feebly  that  by  a  sufficient  show  of  resistance 
he  could  be  forced  to  abandon  his  purpose. 

Some  of  the  defenders  of  Mr.  Wilson,  in  answer  to  Mr. 
Hughes'  merciless  indictment  of  Mr.  Wilson's  course,  have 
sought  to  justify  Mr.  Wilson  by  attempting  to  turn  the 
whole  issue  on  the  character  of  Huerta,  who  was  the  de 
facto  President  when  Mr.  Wilson  became  President  of  the 
United  States.  They  ask -Mr.  Hughes,  "Would  you  have 
recognized  Huerta  ?"  The  answer  is  that  any  one  of  several 
courses  could  have  been  adopted,  provided  only  that  the 
course  adopted  had  been  followed  with  resolution  and  with 
full  acceptance  of  the  responsibility  involved. 

Wilson  Wobbled  Between  Two  Policies 

There  was  much  to  be  said  in  favor  of  the  policy  of 
recognizing  Huerta  and  avoiding  intervention.  There  was 
also  much  to  be  said  in  favor  of  the  policy  of  refusing  to 


20  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

recognize  Huerta,  which  was  intervention,  and  then  of  fully 
accepting  the  responsibility  implied  in  intervention.  But 
there  is  nothing  to  be  said  in  favor  of  wobbling  between  the 
two  policies,  and  neither  recognizing  Huerta  nor  accepting 
the  responsibility  for  the  chaos  caused  by  failure  to  recog- 
nize him.  Yet  this  was  the  course  Mr.  Wilson  followed. 

There  was  no  excuse  for  the  recognition  of  Carranza 
in  view  of  Mr.  Wilson's  failure  to  recognize  Huerta.  All  the 
objections  to  Huerta  applied  with  greater  force  to  Carranza. 
Mr.  Wilson's  apologists  say  that  Huerta  was  the  murderer 
of  Mexicans.  But  Mr.  Wilson  himself,  as  quoted  above,  has 
shown  that  Carranza  was  the  murderer  of  Americans.  There- 
fore, Mr.  Wilson  treats  the  murder  of  Mexicans  as  a  bar 
to  recognition;  but  not  the  murder  of  both  Americans  and 
Mexicans.  And  now,  having  condoned  the  repeated  mur- 
ders of  Americans  by  the  Carranzistas,  and  having  abased 
himself  before  Carranza,  and  having  aided  in  placing  Car- 
ranza in  power,  what  is  Mr.  Wilson's  reward?  and  who  pays 
it?  The  reward  is  that  Mr.  Wilson  has  to  place  150,000 
troops  on  the  border  to  partially  prevent  the  raids  and  mur- 
ders that  his  friend  Mr.  Carranza  will  not  or  can  not  prevent ; 
and  the  payment  is  made  by  the  soldiers  who  are  slain  and 
by  the  families  of  the  guardsmen  who  go  in  want  because 
their  husbands  and  fathers  have  been  called  to  the  border 
to  make  good  Mr.  Wilson's  refusal  to  let  the  regular  army 
administer  such  punishment  to  the  bandits  as  to  inspire  in 
them  a  healthy  fear.  Instead,  Mr.  Wilson's  course  has  been 
such  as  to  encourage  them  into  a  feeling  of  boastful  im- 
punity. Mr.  Wilson's  course  has  been  precisely  like  that  of 
.a  police  commissioner  who  declined  to  permit  his  policemen 
to  use  their  night  sticks  against  burglars,  and  instead  in- 
sisted that  the  householders  should  sit  up  all  night  so  as  to 
scare  the  burglars  away. 

If  You  Must  Hit,  Hit  Hard 

It  should  be  a  cardinal  rule  of  conduct  in  international, 
as  in  individual,  affairs  never  to  hit  if  hitting  can  possibly 
be  avoided;  but  never  under  any  circumstances  to  hit  soft. 
Mr.  Wilson  has  been  engaged  in  continual  hitting.  But 
he  has  always  hit  soft.  And  whenever  his  opponent  has  hit 


Duty  First  21 

back  he  has  promptly  dropped  his  arms,  stopped  hitting, 
and  taken  refuge  in  platitudes  about  peace,  non-intervention 
and  humanity.  Where,  however,  his  opponent  was  suffi- 
ciently weak,  as  in  the  case  of  Haiti,  he  has  dropped  these 
platitudes,  and  has  (with  "blood-spilling")  intervened. 
Haiti  did  not  behave  as  badly  to  us  as  Mexico  behaved ;  but 
Mr.  Wilson  intervened,  fought  the  Haitiens,  shedding  their 
blood  and  the  blood  of  our  troops,  took  possession,  and  now 
has  our  armed  forces  in  control  of  Haiti  and  directing  its 
government.  His  course  of  action  in  Haiti  can  be  defended 
only  if  his  course  of  action  in  Mexico  is  unqualifiedly  con- 
demned! for  such  action  was  far  more  needed  in  Mexico 
than  in  Haiti.  But  there  was  a  difference  in  the  two  cases ; 
and  to  Mr.  Wilson  it  was  a  vital  difference.  Haiti  was 
weaker  than  Mexico.  No  one  was  afraid  of  Haiti. 

It  is  not  a  pleasant  task  to  point  out  these  lamentable 
failures  in  our  foreign  policy  during  the  last  few  years.  If 
they  were  unimportant  to  the  nation,  if  they  only  affected 
Mr.  Wilson  personally,  I  would  gladly  keep  silent  about 
them.  If  they  were  isolated  and  exceptional,  I  would  pass 
them  by.  But  they  are  typical  of  the  policy  of  drift  to 
which  this  nation  has  been  committed  during  these  great 
and  terrible  years  when  we  have  needed  at  the  helm  a  firmer 
hand  than  at  any  other  time  since  the  Civil  War.  If  the 
policy  of  drift  is  sanctioned  by  the  nation,  and  is  permitted 
for  a  sufficient  length  of  time,  we  shall  surely  face  national 
shipwreck. 

Wilson's  Policy  Is  One  of  Drift  and  Spineless  Failure 

We  are  told  that  the  mass  of  the  voters,  the  mass  of  the 
American  people,  will  approve  the  policy  of  the  Administra- 
tion, the  policy  of  drift,  the  policy  of  spineless  failure  to  do 
our  duty  to  ourselves  and  to  others  because  they  believe 
in  "safety  first."  Such  being  the  case,  it  is  worth  while 
examining  just  what  "safety"  or  "safety  first"  means,  and 
how  far  a  policy  based  only  on  considerations  of  safety  is 
materially  advantageous  and  morally  justifiable. 

Safety  First 

To  treat  "safety"  as  an  indispensable  element  of  any 
continuous  national  policy  is  eminently  proper.  It  is  indis- 


22  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

pensable  to  wisdom  that  we  shall  shape  our  military  policy 
so  as  to  make  ourselves — our  home  country,  our  canal  zone, 
all  our  islands — absolutely  safe  against  successful  attack 
by  any  great  European  or  Asiatic  military  power.  To  this 
extent  safety  coincides  with  duty.  But  this  ultimate  safety 
in  the  future  is  to  be  obtained,  not  by  shirking,  but  by  per- 
forming, our  duty  in  the  present.  When  President  Wilson 
two  years  ago  assured  the  American  nation  that  there  was 
no  need  for  preparedness,  no  need  for  worry  about  our  mili- 
tary shortcomings,  no  need  for  self-sacrifice  and  effort  in 
order  to  make  good  these  shortcomings,  he  was  sacrificing 
our  future  safety  to  considerations  of  momentary  political 
popularity  obtained  by  pandering  to  popular  desire  for  the 
enjoyment  of  material  ease,  and  the  avoidance  of  effort  and 
of  serious  facing  of  duties.  Mr.  Wilson  then  put  "safety 
first"  as  compared  to  duty;  but  he  put  it  last  as  compared 
to  momentary  enjoyment  of  ease  and  material  pleasures, 
and  lazy  refusal  to  face  facts.  I  hold  that  this  was  exactly 
the  reverse  of  what  he  ought  to  have  done.  I  hold  that 
it  is  our  clear  duty  to  sacrifice  some  of  our  present  ease  and 
soft  enjoyment  of  material  things  in  order  to  guarantee  our 
future  national  safety.  I  hold  that  we  should  provide  for 
the  ample  safeguarding  of  the  heritage  which  our  fathers 
left  us  and  which  our  children  should  receive  from  us  undi- 
minished.  I  therefore  believe,  as  I  have  before  said,  that 
not  only  should  we  provide  a  big  and  efficient  navy  and  a 
small  and  efficient  regular  army,  but  that  we  should  also 
provide  for  a  system  of  obligatory  military  training  of  our 
young  men,  on  the  Swiss  and  Australian  models.  With  all 
my  heart  I  believe  in  insuring  the  safety  that  can  only  come 
through  the  full  performance  of  duty,  by  the  exercise  of 
courage  and  forethought  under  the  compulsion  of  a  high 
sense  of  honor  and  patriotism. 

This  Is  No  Time  for  Flabby  Ease 

But  this  is  not  in  the  least  what  Mr.  Wilson's  advocates 
mean  when  they  ask  us  to  support  him,  because  he  and 
they  are  for  "safety  first."  They  are  for  the  unworthy 
safety  that  is  'merely  obtained  by  the  abandonment  of  duty. 
They  are  for  the  momentary  safety  which  shortsighted  men 
secure  when  they  purchase  escape  from  present  risk  and 


Duty  First  23 

effort  at  the  cost  of  future  disaster.  They  are  for  the 
"safety"  of  each  man  to  spend  his  time  in  money-making 
and  in  flabby  ease,  at  the  cost  of  remaining  untrained  and 
unfit  to  render  service  to  the  nation  in  the  nation's  hour 
of  need.  They  are  for  the  mean  safety  which  this  nation 
secured  when  it  treated  The  Hague  Conventions,  which  it 
had  signed,  like  scraps  of  paper  and  declined  to  make  even 
a  protest  on  behalf  of  tortured  Belgium.  They  are  for  the 
safety  this  nation  temporarily  secured  by  tame  submission 
to  the  murder  of  its  men,  women  and  children  on  land  by 
Mexican  bandits,  and  at  sea  in  the  Lusitania  and  similar 
cases  by  German  submarines.  This  kind  of  "safety  first" 
means  duty  last,  honor  last,  courage  last.  I  do  not  believe 
in  it.  I  believe  that  it  is  obtained  at  the  cost  of  moral 
degradation  in  the  present  and  at  the  risk  of  national  ruin 
in  the  future. 

In  Maine  there  are  many  seafaring  folks.  I  can  illus- 
trate what  I  mean  about  the  use  and  abuse  of  the  word 
safety  by  the  life-saving  service.  This  is  a  service  especially 
designed  to  secure  greater  safety  for  ships'  crews,  and  gen- 
erally for  persons  whose  lives  are  imperiled  on  the  water. 
It  is  a  service  to  secure  safety.  But  the  safety  is  secured 
only  because  some  brave  men  are  willing  to  risk  their  own 
lives  in  order  to  save  other  lives.  They  do  not  put  "safety 
first,"  as  far  as  they  themselves  are  concerned.  If  they 
did,  no  lifeboat  would  ever  be  launched  from  a  life-saving 
station.  But  the  men  on  a  sinking  ship  who  crowd  into  the 
life-boats  ahead  of  the  women  and  children  do  put  "safety 
first."  I  will  say  this  for  them,  however:  Whenever  they 
get  ashore  they  do  not  wear  buttons  to  commemorate  the 
feat — as  some  of  our  opponents  in  the  present  campaign  do. 

Life-saving  medals  are  granted  every  year.  Each  medal 
means  that  a  life  has  been  saved ;  and  each  means  also  that 
in  order  to  save  it  another  life  has  been  put  in  jeopardy.  The 
"safety  first"  class  does  not  get  such  medals.  Every  life- 
saving  crew  is  composed  of  men  who  are  tough,  hardy  and 
well-trained.  They  put  safety  first  as  far  as  self-indulgence, 
and  soft  ease,  and  mere  money-getting  are  concerned ;  other- 
wise they  would  be  helpless  in  a  storm.  But  where  duty 
and  safety  are  concerned,  they  put  duty  first  and  safety  last. 


24  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

Put  Duty,  Not  Safety,  First 

I  wish  to  see  this  nation  act  in  similar  fashion,  both 
as  regards  its  own  safety  and  as  regards  the  performance 
of  international  duty.  I  wish  to  see  it,  by  forethought,  by 
effort  and  hard  training,  and  by  the  cultivation  of  a  broad 
and  intense  feeling  of  national  endeavor  and  national 
patriotism,  to  so  develop  its  courage  and  its  efficient  strength 
as  to  be  able  to  hold  its  own  against  any  possible  aggression ; 
and  then  I  wish  to  see  it  put  duty  first,  not  safety  first,  when 
any  small,  well-behaved  people  is  treated  as  Belgium  has 
been  treated.  I  stand  for  the  safety  that  is  obtained  by  the 
performance  of  duty.  I  do  not  stand  for  the  safety  that  is 
obtained  by  the  sacrifice  of  duty. 

I  believe  that  when  the  American  people  realize  that 
the  issue  is  squarely  before  them  they  will  put  duty  first 
and  not  safety  first;  and  I  believe  that  only  by  so  doing 
will  they  secure  real  and  ultimate  safety.  I  believe  that 
they  will  support  a  policy  of  national  action  demanding 
a  spirit  of  national  courage.  The  American  people  are  at 
heart  moral  idealists  and  enthusiasts ;  and  in  the  past  they 
have  again  and  again  responded  to  some  appeal  for  practical 
action,  calling  for  idealism  to  perceive  it  and  enthusiasm 
and  self-devotion  in  order  to  achieve  it. 

The  men  who  came  across  the  ocean  in  the  seventeenth 
century  to  found  here  a  new  nation  were  men  of  courage  and 
energy  inspired  by  idealism  and  enthusiasm.  Under  that 
inspiration  they  attempted  and  accomplished  the  American 
Revolution;  and  later  entered  on  the  experiment  of  self- 
government,  founding  a  new  nation  "conceived  in  liberty 
and  dedicated  to  the  proposition  that  all  men  are  equal." 
There  were  men  of  little  faith  among  them,  men  of  the 
"safety  first"  type,  of  the  professional  pacifist  type;  but 
in  the  end  our  forefathers  rejected  the  leadership  of  these 
men,  and  followed  the  leadership  of  Washington. 

Since  then  our  population  has  been  swollen  by  immigra- 
tion ;  and  our  immigrants  have  generally  been  men  of  cour- 
age, energy  and  enterprise;  a  lar^e  proportion  have  been 
men  of  moral  enthusiasm.  They  dared  to  leave  the  old  world 
on  the  chance  of  starting  a  new  life  for  themselves  and 
their  children  under  new  conditions.  On  the  whole  the 


Duty  First  25 

men  and  women  who  were  called  to  our  shores  were  the 
picked  men  and  women  of  their  countries.  A  nation  drawing 
its  blood  from  such  sources  is  fundamentally  sound,  and 
in  the  end  it  will  support  a  plan  which  combined  practical 
action  with  genuine  idealism. 

Lincoln's  Answer  in  1860 

In  1860  the  question  whether  the  American  people 
would  allow  the  indefinite  extension  of  slavery  on  the 
American  continent  became  acute.  Conservatism  said,  Let 
Well  enough  alone;  timidity  said,  Let  us  have  peace;  busi- 
ness interests  said,  Safety  first ;  the  spirit  of  pacifism  said, 
Let  us  compromise,  for  the  evils  of  slavery  are  not  to  be 
compared  with  the  evils  of  civil  war  and  possible  dissolution 
of  the  Union. 

To  these  arguments,  so  plausible  that  apparently  they 
carried  the  great  majority  of  the  Nation  and  had  the  sup- 
port of  multitudes  of  the  best  men  both  in  church  and 
State,  Abraham  Lincoln  answered  in  his  Cooper  Union 
Speech :  "Either  slavery  is  right  or  wrong ;  if  it  is  right,  we 
ought  to  do  all  that  the  South  asks  of  us ;  if  it  is  wrong,  we 
have  no  right  to  allow  it  in  the  territory  under  our  control." 
To  this  principle  he  adhered  through  the  political  campaign 
which  elected  him,  through  the  dark  and  dangerous  days  of 
the  interregnum  after  his  election,  and  through  all  the 
tragedy  of  the  Civil  War.  The  American  people  responded 
to  the  appeal  and  sustained  in  practical  fashion  the  great 
moral  principle  Lincoln  set  forth  and  embodied.  They  put 
duty  first  and  safety  second.  I  do  not  believe  that  we  of 
this  generation  have  sunk  so  far  below  our  sires  as  to  be 
incapable  of  responding  in  similar  fashion  to  a  similar  ap- 
peal. 

In  1896  Mr.  Bryan  initiated  the  campaign  for  Free 
Silver.  He  was  a  popular  speaker.  The  arguments  for 
Free  Silver  were  popular,  and  indeed  plausible.  They  were : 
Our  bonds  are  payable  in  coin;  why  substitute  gold?  If 
silver  has  depreciated,  gold  has  appreciated;  why  sacrifice 
the  debtor  class  to  the  gold  bugs  ?  Recognized  experts  have 
declared  in  favor  of  bi-metallism.  Why  abandon  it?  Why 
ask  the  consent  of  Europe  to  continue  it  ?  Why  not  go  it 


26  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

alone?  The  simple  answer  was,  It  is  not  right  for  a  nation 
to  pay  its  debts  to  the  world  in  anything  less  than  the 
world's  currency.  As  fairly  representing  the  national  con- 
viction which  led  to  the  national  action,  I  quote  a  state- 
ment at  the  time  by  a  noted  clergyman :  "It  is  rarely  morally 
wise  to  do  to  another  what  he  thinks  unjust.  It  is  never 
morally  right  to  enter  on  a  course  of  action  as  to  the  justice 
of  which  the  actor  is  himself  in  doubt.  These  principles  are 
as  applicable  to  nations  as  to  individuals."  It  was  right  to 
show  that  free  silver  would  bring  material  disaster  to  the 
nation;  but  it  was  primarily  the  moral  appeal  to  the  con- 
science of  the  people  which  defeated  Mr.  Bryan  in  1896. 

Our  Duty  in  Cuba  and  the  Philippines 

In  1898  the  conditions  in  Cuba  had  become  unbearable 
to  the  American  people.  When  full  knowledge  was  ob- 
tained of  what  had  been  done  in  the  island  it  raised  in  this 
country  a  storm  of  moral  indignation  which  was  irresistible. 
The  argument  of  the  pacifists  at  that  time  was  the  same  as 
the  argument  of  the  pacifists  of  to-day.  They  varied  be- 
tween an  unhealthy  sentimentality  and  a  still  more  un- 
healthy materialism.  They  said  that  we  were  not  concerned 
with  the  injustice  practised  by  a  foreign  government  on  a 
foreign  people;  that  it  was  no  business  of  ours;  that  the 
Cubans  should  be  permitted  to  fight  their  own  battles ;  and 
that  the  "blood  spilling"  in  Cuba  was  not  our  affair.  The 
answer  then  was  the  answer  we  ought  to  make  now.  We 
are  our  brother's  keeper;  injustice,  whenever  and  wherever 
perpetrated,  does  concern  us ;  and  whether  we  act  or  not,  no 
considerations  of  self-interest  should  prevent  our  legitimate 
expression  of  that  concern. 

Then  followed  the  question  of  the  Philippines.  The  ar- 
guments of  the  so-called  anti-imperialists  were  much  like 
the  arguments  of  the  pacifists  of  to-day.  Again  they  varied 
between  an  unhealthy  sentimentality  and  an  even  more  un- 
healthy materialism.  They  said  that  the  Philippines  were 
on  the  other  side  of  the  globe,  and  would  never  repay  what 
they  cost  us  in  money ;  that  serving  the  Filipinos  would  not 
offset  the  sacrifice  of  the  lives  of  American  soldiers;  and 
they  alternately  advocated  letting  the  Germans  or  Japanese 


Duty  First  27 

take  the  islands,  and  letting  the  islanders  take  care  of  them- 
selves, and  spill  as  much  blood  as  they  desired.  The  an- 
swer was  in  spirit  identical  with  the  answer  of  Abraham 
Lincoln  to  the  pacifists  of  1860 :  For  we  said  that  we  owed 
a  duty  to  the  people  we  had  set  free,  and  would  not  abandon 
them  to  anarchy  and  chaos.  Again  we  appealed  primarily 
not  to  the  pocket,  but  to  the  conscience ;  not  to  self-interest, 
but  to  the  sense  of  honor,  of  the  American  people.  Again 
the  appeal  was  successful. 

An  Opiate  to  Idealism 

Since  1912  we  have  had  four  years  of  a  policy  which 
has  been  an  opiate  to  the  spirit  of  idealism.  It  has  meant  the 
relaxation  of  our  moral  fibre.  Horror  of  war,  combined  with 
a  sordid 'appeal  to  self-interest  and  to  fear,  has  paralyzed 
the  national  conscience.  We  have  been  told  that  Americans, 
if  they  do  not  wish  to  be  killed,  should  leave  Mexico  and 
should  keep  off  the  ocean;  that  to  save  a  few  American 
lives  it  is  not  worth  while  to  hazard  the  lives  of  American 
soldiers;  that  Mexicans  should  be  allowed  to  spill  blood  to 
their  hearts'  content ;  that  the  European  War  is  no  concern 
of  ours;  that  even  as  between  Belgium  and  Germany  we 
should  be  neutral  not  only  in  act  but  in  sympathy.  Not 
once  has  President  Wilson  squarely  placed  before  the 
American  people  the  question  which  Abraham  Lincoln  put 
before  the  American  people  in  1860:  What  is  our  duty? 
Not  once  has  he  appealed  to  moral  idealism,  to  the  stern  en- 
thusiasm of  strong  men  for  the  right.  On  the  contrary,  he 
has  employed  every  elocutionary  device  to  lull  to  sleep  our 
sense  of  duty,  to  make  us  content  with  words  instead  of 
deeds,  to  make  our  moral  idealism  and  enthusiasm  evap- 
orate in  empty  phrases  instead  of  being  reduced  to  concrete 
action.  America  as  a  nation  has  been  officially  kept  in  a 
position  of  timid  indifference  and  cold  selfishness.  America, 
which  sprang  to  the  succor  of  Cuba  in  1898,  has  stood  an  idle 
spectator  of  the  invasion  of  Belgium,  of  the  sinking  of  the 
Lusitania,'  of  the  continued  slaughter  of  our  own  citizens, 
and  of  the  reign  of  anarchy,  rapine  and  murder  in  Mexico. 


28  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

American  Rights  and  American  Duty  Were  Relegated 

Nevertheless  I  believe  that  the  American  people  were 
ready  for  the  same  kind  of  appeal  which  was  made  to  them 
by  Abraham  Lincoln  in  1860,  by  the  advocates  of  an  honest 
currency  in  1896,  by  the  advocates  of  the  Spanish  War  in 
1898,  by  the  advocates  of  Nationalism  in  1900.  But  the 
appeal  was  not  made.  On  the  contrary,  Mr.  Wilson  invoked 
the  spirit  of  timidity  and  selfishness.  He  made  no  effort 
to  invoke  the  sense  of  duty.  He  put  "safety  first,"  the  imme- 
diate safety  of  the  moment,  to  be  obtained  by  shrinking 
from  duty.  He  did  not  even  put  American  rights  first,  still 
less  did  he  put  American  duty  first. 

Wilson  Could  Have  Averted  Massacre  and  Rapine 

His  task  was  not  an  especially  difficult  or  dangerous 
task;  but  it  needed  a  brave  heart  and  a  steady  hand.  Under 
his  lead  America  could  and  should  have  put  itself  at  the  head 
of  all  the  neutral  nations,  by  its  example  if  not  by  direct 
diplomatic  agreements,  in  demanding  that  the  war  should 
be  conducted  in  accordance  with  the  usage  of  civilized  na- 
tions, that  international  law  should  be  observed,  that  the 
rights  of  neutrals  and  non-combatants  should  be  respected. 
If  this  spirit  had  animated  our  administration  there  would 
probably  have  been  no  invasion  of  Belgium,  no  fears  of  a 
like  fate  to  terrorize  other  smaller  nations,  no  torpedoing  of 
merchant  vessels,  no  bombarding  of  churches  and  hospitals, 
no  massacreing  of  women  and  children,  no  murder  of  Miss 
Cavell,  no  attempted  extermination  of  the  Armenians  and 
Syrian  Christians.  We  cannot  undo  what  has  been  done. 
But  we  can  repudiate  what  has  been  done.  We  can  regain 
our  own  self-respect  and  the  respect  of  other  nations  for 
this  country.  We  can  put  in  power  an  administration  which 
will  throughout  its  term  of  power  protect  our  own  citizens 
and  live  up  to  our  national  obligations. 

It  is  just  that  this  nation  should  concern  itself  with  its 
rights;  but  it  is  even  more  necessary  that  it  should  con- 
cern itself  with  its  duties.  As  between  Mr.  Hughes  and  Mr. 
Wilson,  who  can  doubt  which  is  the  man  who  will  with 
austere  courage  stand  for  the  national  duty?  Mr.  Wilson's 
words  have  contradicted  one  another ;  and  all  his  words  have 


Duty  First  29 

been  contradicted  by  his  acts.  Mr.  Wilson's  promise  has 
not  borne  the  slightest  reference  to  his  performance.  We 
have  against  him  in  Mr.  Hughes  a  man  whose  public  life  is 
a  guarantee  that  whatever  he  says  he  will  make  good,  and 
that  all  his  words  will  be  borne  out  by  his  deeds.  Against 
Mr.  Wilson's  combination  of  grace  in  elocution  with  futility 
in  arction ;  against  his  record  of  words  unbacked  by  deeds  or 
betrayed  by  deeds,  we  set  Mr.  Hughes'  rugged  and  uncom- 
promising straightforwardness  of  character  and  action  in 
every  office  he  has  held.  We  put  the  man  who  thinks  and 
speaks  directly,  and  whose  words  have  always  been  made 
good,  against  the  man  whose  adroit  and  facile  elocution  is 
used  to  conceal  his  plans  or  his  want  of  plans.  The  next 
four  years  may  well  be  years  of  tremendous  national  strain. 
Which  of  the  two  men  do  you,  the  American  people,  wish 
at  the  helm  during  these  four  years ;  the  man  who  has  been 
actually  tried  and  found  wanting,  or  the  man  whose  whole 
career  in  public  office  is  a  guarantee  of  his  power  and  good 
faith  ?  But  one  answer  is  possible ;  and  it  must  be  given  by 
the  American  people  through  the  election  of  Charles  Evans 
Hughes  as  President  of  the  United  States. 


WORDS  AND  DEEDS 
Battle  Creek,  Michigan,  September  30,  1916  . 


AT  the  outset  I  wish  to  say  a  word  as  to  the  protests  now 
made  by  so  many  people  that  we  must  not  criticize  the 
President.  The  newspapers  and  individuals  making  these 
protests  are,  for  the  most  part,  the  very  ones  who  and 
which  when  I  was  President  spread  every  species  of 
calumny  and  slander  about  me.  I  then,  as  President,  took 
the  view  that  no  one  had  a  right  to  speak  untruthfully  of 
the  President  or  of  anyone  else,  but  that  even  less  than  any- 
one else  ought  the  President  to  escape  from  truthful  criti- 
cism. I  never  complained  of  any  attack  on  me  unless  it 
was  false,  and  if  it  was  false,  and  the  man  making  it  was 
important  enough,  I  clearly  showed  its  falsity.  I  apply  to 
others  only  the  standard  by  which  I  asked  that  I  myself 
be  treated.  It  is  the  standard  explicitly  set  in  reference 
to  myself  by  Mr.  Charles  Bonaparte  on  May  2,  1902,  in  his 
speech  to  the  Civil  Service  Reform  Association  of  Maryland. 
Speaking  of  me,  the  then  President,  he  said :  "Give  him  Hail 
Columbia  (not  to  speak  of  any  thing  less  suitable  for  public 
mention)  when  he  does  aught  that  savors  of  that  abuse  of 
public  trust  for  personal  or  party  ends  which  he  has  himself 
so  often  and  so  strenuously  condemned;  if  he  is  the  man 
some  of  us  think  him,  he  will  think  all  the  better  of  us  for 
doing  this;  but  whatever  he  or  anybody  else  may  think,  it 
is  the  right  thing  for  us  to  do,  and  we  have  no  business  here, 
this  Association  and  its  fellows  have  no  warrant  for  further 
existence,  unless  we  are  ready  to  do  it.  Moreover,  although 
we  should,  so  far  as  may  be  practicable  in  reason,  learn  all 
material  facts  bearing  on  the  conduct  of  a  public  servant 
before  we  blame  him,  there  is  no  call  for  encyclopaedic 
research  into  minute  details  to  justify  outspoken  censure, 
when  this  appears,  on  a  fair,  sober,  second  thought,  well 
deserved.  It  is  the  President's  duty,  no  less  than  it  was 

30 


Words  and  Deeds  31 

Mrs.  Caesar's,  to  escape  reasonable  suspicion  of  wrong- 
doing ;  should  he  or  any  other  official  tell  us :  'If  you  knew 
the  facts,  you  wouldn't  blame  me/  we  have  a  ready  answer : 
'Give  us  the  facts,  and  we'll  see.' ' 

I  at  the  time  emphatically  endorsed  this  position  of  Mr. 
Bonaparte's,  who  himself  later  served  in  my  Cabinet.  His 
attitude  was  the  proper  one  to  take  towards  the  then  Presi- 
dent; and  it  is  the  proper  one  to  take  towards  the  present 
President. 

I  never  uttered  one  word  of  criticism  of  President 
Wilson  until  a  year  and  a  half  after  he  was  elected  Presi- 
dent. If  he  had  stood  by  the  honor  and  the  interest  of  the 
American  people,  I  would  have  thrown  up  my  hat  for  him, 
and  would  have  supported  him  heart  and  soul.  I  not 
merely  kept  silent  during  the  first  eighteen  months; 
I  tried  actively  to  support  him.  The  only  errors  I  have 
made  in  connection  with  Mr.  Wilson  were  due  to  incau- 
tiously accepting  his  statements  and  supporting  his  policies 
in  the  effort  to  "stand  by  the  President."  It  was  with  deep 
reluctance  that  I  was  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  the  effort 
to  stand  by  him  was  incompatible  with  standing  by  the  in- 
terests of  mankind  and  the  honor  of  this  nation.  But  in  my 
view  there  was  no  alternative  for  any  honorable  man,  when 
once  I  became  convinced,  as  I  am  convinced,  that  the  con- 
science of  this  people  has  been  seared,  and  its  moral  sense 
dulled,  by  the  leadership  of  the  Administration  and  of  Con- 
gress during  the  last  three  years.  These  false  servants  of 
the  people  have  taught  us  to  enjoy  soft  ease  and  swollen 
wealth  in  the  present  without  taking  one  effective  step  to 
ward  off  ruinous  disaster  in  the  future.  These  false  serv- 
ants of  the  people  have  betrayed  the  soul  of  the  nation. 

We  Had  War  Under  Washington  and  Lincoln 

The  supporters  of  Mr.  Wilson  say  that  the  American 
people  should  vote  for  him  because  he  has  kept  us  out  of 
war.  It  is  worth  while  to  remember  that  this  is  a  claim 
that  cannot  be  advanced  either  on  behalf  of  Washington  or 
of  Lincoln.  Neither  Washington  nor  Lincoln  kept  us  out 
of  war.  Americans,  and  the  people  of  the  world  at  large, 
now  reverence  the  memories  of  these  two  men,  because,  and 


32  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

only  because,  they  put  righteousness  before  peace.  They 
abhorred  war.  They  shunned  unjust  or  wanton  or  reckless 
war.  But  they  possessed  that  stern  valor  of  patriotism 
which  bade  them  put  duty  first,  not  safety  first ;  which  bade 
them  accept  war  rather  than  an  unrighteous  and  disastrous 
peace.  There  were  peace-at-any-price  men  in  the  days  of 
Washington.  They  were  the  Tories.  There  were  peace-at- 
any-price  men  in  the  days  of  Lincoln.  They  were  the 
Copperheads.  The  men  who  now,  with  timid  hearts  and 
quavering  voices,  praise  Mr.  Wilson  for  having  kept  us  out 
of  war  are  the  spiritual  heirs  of  the  Tories  of  1776,  and 
the  Copperheads  of  1864.  The  men  who  followed  Washing- 
tion  at  Trenton  and  Yorktown,  and  who  suffered  with  him 
through  the  winter  at  Valley  Forge ;  and  the  men  who  wore 
the  blue  under  Grant,  and  the  Gray  under  Lee,  were  men  of 
valor,  who  sacrificed  everything  to  serve  the  right  as  it  was 
given  them  to  see  the  right.  They  spurned  with  contempt- 
uous indignation  the  ^  counsels  of  the  feeble  and  cowardly 
folk  who  in  their  day  spoke  for  peace-at-any-price. 

The  Murder  of  Americans  Has  Been  Invited 

President  Wilson  by  his  policy  of  tame  submission  to 
insult  and  injury  from  all  whom  he  feared  has  invited 
the  murder  of  our  men,  women  and  children  by  Mexican 
bandits  on  land,  and  by  German  submarines  on  the  sea. 
He  has  spoken  much  of  the  "New  Freedom."  In  interna- 
tional practice  this  has  meant  freedom  for  the  representa- 
tives of  any  foreign  power  to  murder  American  men,  and 
outrage  American  women,  unchecked  by  the  President. 
President  Wilson  has  counted  upon  his  belief  that  the 
American  people  are  indifferent  to  their  duties,  because  they 
are  too  much  absorbed  in  war  profits,  too  much  pleased  with 
the  unhealthy  prosperity  which  flourishes  because  others  are 
suffering ;  too  greedily  content  with  a  momentary  immunity 
from  danger,  due  to  the  fact  that  all  possible  foes  are  other- 
wise engaged.  He  has  believed  that  our  people  will  not  look 
ahead.  He  has  believed  that  they  will  remain  blind  to  the 
fact  that  disaster  will  surely  in  the  end  overtake  them  if 
they  shirk  their  duties  in  the  present.  He  believes  that  if 
they  are  allowed  to  enjoy  good  profits  and  high  wages,  and 


Words  and  Deeds  33 

go  to  the  movies,  and  purchase  automobiles,  they  will  pay 
no  thought  to  the  possibility  of  future  ruin,  and  no  thought 
to  the  sufferings  of  their  fellow-countrymen  and  country- 
women who,  at  the  present  moment,  suffer  the  last  extremi- 
ties of  torture  and  outrage. 

Porter  Emerson  Browne  has  shown  exactly  the  way  in 
which  we  are  looked  at  abroad  in  a  recent  statement  which 
runs  as  follows : 

"An  American  friend  of  mine  attended  a  dinner  given 
in  Mexico  by  the  erstwhile  revolutionist  thereof,  Pascual 
Orozco.  Pascual  was  puzzled.  He  asked  my  friend  to  ex- 
plain that  which  so  mystified  him.  'We  have  robbed  your 
men,  dishonored  your  women,  killed  your  children;  tell 
me/  pleaded  Pascual,  'what  does  an  American  need  to  make 
him  fight  ?'  Pascual,  you  see,  being  only  an  ignorant 
Mexican,  couldn't  understand  why  a  wife  or  a  couple  of 
children  more  or  less  meant  little  when  you  have  a  new 
automobile  and  a  fat  bank  account." 

Consider  Mr.  Wilson's  Statements 

I  do  not  ask  you  to  take  my  statement  for  Mr.  Wilson's 
motive  and  actions.  I  ask  you  only  to  consider  his  own 
statements,  and  the  statements  of  his  authorized  representa- 
tives, and  his  actions,  and  above  all,  his  constant  inaction. 
Nearly  one  year  and  a  half  has  passed  since  the  Lusitania 
was  sunk.  The  act  represented  the  most  colossal  single 
instance  of  the  murder  of  non-combatants,  including  men, 
women  and  children,  that  had  been  perpetrated  by  any 
power  calling  itself  civilized  for  over  a  century.  President 
Wilson  had  full  notice  as  to  what  was  to  be  done,  for  the 
German  Ambassador,  Mr.  Von  Bernstorff,  had  publicly 
given  such  notice  to  the  people  of  the  United  States.  For 
less  than  such  action  President  George  Washington,  when 
ours  was  a  weak,  infant  nation,  forced  the  recall  of  the 
French  Ambassador,  Genet.  But  President  Wilson  did  not 
act.  He  only  spoke.  And  his  words  were  a  direct  incite- 
ment to  the  repetition  of  the  wrong.  For  immediately  after 
the  sinking  of  the  Lusitania  he  uttered  his  famous  sentence 
about  being  "Too  proud  to  fight."  In  all  our  history  there 
has  never  been  any  other  American  President  who  has  used 


34  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

a  phrase  that  has  done  such  widespread  damage  to  the  good 
name  of  America.  It  is  one  of  those  dreadful  phrases  which, 
as  by  a  lightning  flash,  illumines  the  soul  of  the  man 
using  it,  and  remains  forever  fixed  in  the  minds  of  mankind 
in  connection  with  that  man.  But  this  is  not  all.  When  the 
man  is  President  of  the  United  States,  it  is  a  sad  and  dread- 
ful thing  that  the  shame  is  necessarily  shared  by  the  na- 
tion itself;  and  it  is  completely  assumed  by  the  nation  if  it 
fails  to  repudiate  the  man  who  uttered  the  phrase. 

Imagine  George  Washington  after  the  Lexington  fight, 
or  even  after  the  Boston  massacre,  selecting  the  occasion 
as  an  appropriate  one  for  remarking  that  the  American 
people  might  be  "Too  proud  to  fight!"  Imagine  Abraham 
Lincoln  making  such  a  statement  two  days  after  the  firing 
on  Sumter! 

Nor  was  this  phrase  an  isolated  one.  Shortly  after- 
wards, under  date  of  May  27th,  the  New  York  Times  con- 
tained the  statement  that  President  Wilson  declined  an 
invitation  to  speak  at  Independence  Hall  on  July  5th,  and 
in  response  to  a  suggestion  that  he  should  only  speak  on 
patriotism,  remarked :  "This  is  perhaps  the  very  time  when 
I  would  not  care  to  arouse  the  sentiment  of  patriotism."  I 
call  your  attention  to  the  fact  that  I  take  this  statement 
from  one  of  the  most  prominent  Wilson  papers.  President 
Wilson  refused  to  speak  in  Independence  Hall  on  the  one 
hundred  and  twenty-eighth  anniversary  of  the  signing  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  in  that  hall,  and  he  so  re- 
fused because  inasmuch  as  over  one  hundred  of  our  men, 
women  and  children  had  just  been  murdered  on  the  high 
seas  he  regarded  it  as  "the  very  moment  when  he  would  not 
care  to  arouse  the  sentiment  of  patriotism."  Mr.  Wilson 
has  a  positive  genius  for  striking  when  the  iron  is  cold 
and  fearing  to  strike  when  the  iron  is  hot.  If  one  hundred 
and  twenty-eight  years  ago  Washington  and  Jefferson,  and 
the  other  men  who  signed  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
had  felt  the  same  way  about  patriotism,  and  the  same  way 
about  fighting  as  Mr.  Wilson  does,  we  would  never  have  had 
a  country.  Had  Lincoln  felt  the  same  way,  there  would 
be  no  such  thing  as  the  American  Republic  now  in  existence. 

Most  assuredly,  my  fellow  countrymen,  the  American 


Words  and  Deeds  35 

Republic  will  not  live,  and  will  not  deserve  to  live,  if  for  the 
views  of  the  men  who  signed  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence- on  July  4th,  1776,  we  substitute  as  the  basis  of  national 
action  the  views  of  the  President  who,  one  hundred  and 
twenty-eight  years  later,  declined  to  speak  in  commemora- 
tion of  the  day,  because  in  a  dangerous  crisis  it  seemed  to  his 
cold  heart  unwise  "to  arouse  the  spirit  of  patriotism." 

Mr.  Wilson's  Deeds  Contradict  His  Words 

The  other  day,  discussing  his  refusal  to  recognize 
Huerta,  President  Wilson  said  in  his  speech  of  acceptance 
that  he  would  refuse  to  recognize  any  "title  based  upon  in- 
trigue and  assassination,"  and  that  he  would  "refuse  to 
extend  the  hand  of  welcome  to  any  one  who  obtains  power 
in  a  sister  republic  by  treachery  and  violence."  Fine  words ; 
only,  as  usual,  they  are  contradicted  by  Mr.  Wilson's  deeds. 
Let  this  statement  about  Huerta  be  tested  by  Mr.  Wilson's 
record  in  exactly  similar  cases  when  dealing  with  other 
men.  In  February,  1914,  at  the  very  time  he  was  refusing 
to  recognize  Huerta  in  Mexico,  President  Wilson  recognized 
Colonel  Benavides  in  Peru;  although  Benavides  had  ob- 
tained his  power  by  the  exact  means  which  Mr.  Wilson  de- 
nounced in  the  case  of  Huerta.  The  Government  of  Bena- 
vides was  founded  on  assassination,  and  had  no  vestige  of 
constitutional  authority  back  of  it.  It  came  into  power  in 
February,  1914,  when  Colonel  Benavides  led  the  garrison 
troops  against  the  President's  palace,  imprisoned  the  Presi- 
dent and  assassinated  the  Minister  of  War  and  various 
others.  Minister  McMillan  reported  these  facts  fully  to  the 
President.  The  case  against  Benavides  was  far  more  fla- 
grant than  that  against  Huerta ;  but  President  Wilson  boldly 
"extended  the  hand  of  welcome  to  the  man  who  obtained 
power  in  a  sister  republic  by  treachery  and  violence,  and 
whose  title  was  based  upon  assassination  and  intrigue." 
It  is  absolutely  impossible  to  accept  Mr.  Wilson's  statement 
as  a  justification  in  the  case  of  Huerta  unless  we  admit  that 
that  very  statement  irretrievably  condemns  him  in  the  case 
of  Benavides.  The  only  other  explanation  is  that  Mr.  Wil- 
son's statement  in  the  Huerta  matter  was  not  intended  to 


36  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

correspond  with  the  facts,  but  merely  to  impress  well-mean- 
ing persons  who  were  ignorant  of  the  facts. 

In  both  San  Domingo  and  Haiti  President  Wilson  inter- 
vened by  force  on  behalf  of  men  who  had  obtained  power 
precisely  as  Mr.  Huerta  obtained  it.  Indeed,  in  the  case  of 
Haiti,  President  Zamor  was  guilty  of  far  worse  conduct. 
But  San  Domingo  and  Haiti  were  weak  and  President  Wil- 
son was  willing  to  act  as  regards  them  as  he  did  not  venture 
to  act  in  Mexico. 

But  it  is  Mr.  Wilson's  recognition  of  Carranza  which 
more  than  anything  else  applies  the  "acid  test,"  of  which 
Mr.  Wilson  is  so  fond  of  speaking,  to  Mr.  Wilson's  own 
allegations  as  to  why  he  did  not  recognize  Huerta.  Every 
argument  against  Huerta  applied  with  tenfold  more  truth 
and  weight  against  Carranza.  Immediately  after  Mr.  Wil- 
son recognized  Carranza,  the  latter  courtmartialed  and  shot 
a  former  member  of  Huerta's  cabinet,  Garcia  Granados, 
who  had  committed  no  crime  whatever  except  having  served 
in  Huerta's  cabinet.  It  was  a  deliberate  murder  of  a  man 
of  good  character  who  was  at  the  time  in  private  life;  and 
Carranza  had  already  permitted  his  followers  to  assassinate 
members  of  the  House  and  members  of  the  Senate  of  the 
Mexican  Congress.  For  full  particulars  I  refer  you  to  the 
speech  of  Senator  Fall  on  June  2d  last.  On  April  3d,  1915, 
the  Americans  resident  in -the  City  of  Mexico  sent  to  the 
Department  of  State  a  letter  setting  forth  that  Carranza's 
troops  had  without  check  by  him,  and  acting  by  his  orders, 
killed  men,  outraged  women  and  raided  churches.  More- 
over, Mr.  Wilson  is  himself  a  witness  against  his  present 
ally.  I  refer  you  to  the  letter  of  Mr.  Wilson's  own  Secretary 
of  State  of  June  4  last.  In  this  letter  it  is  explicitly  stated 
that  Carranzista  soldiers  in  September,  1915,  invaded 
American  territory  at  several  different  points,  and  engaged 
in  burning  and  looting  American  property  and  killing 
American  citizens ;  and,  says  Mr.  Wilson  through  his  Secre- 
tary of  State,  "not  only  were  these  murders  characterized 
by  ruthless  brutality,  but  uncivilized  acts  of  mutilation  were 
perpetrated."  One  of  these  "uncivilized"  acts  was  commit- 
ted on  September  29th,  when  some  of  Carranza's  soldiers 
captured  an  American  trooper,  killed  him  and  cut  off  his 


Words  and  Deeds  37 

head  and  ears.  Exactly  twenty  days  later,  on  October  19th, 
Mr.  Wilson  expressed  "pleasure"  in  informing  Carranza 
that  he  recognized  him!  Since  the  recognition  Carranza's 
troops  by  his  orders  have  treacherously  attacked  and  mur- 
dered American  soldiers  on  at  least  two  occasions.  If  the 
acts  above  recited — which  are  merely  samples  of  the  course 
of  conduct  Carranza  had  already  pursued — do  not  constitute 
"intrigue  and  assassination,  treachery  and  violence,"  then 
the  words  have  lost  their  meaning.  Mr.  Wilson  took  "pleas- 
ure" in  "extending  the  hand  of  welcome"  to  Carranza,  whose 
own  hand  is  red  with  the  blood  of  murdered  men  and  women 
of  his  own  nation,  and  whose  hands,  unlike  the  hands  of 
Huerta,  were  also  red  with  the  blood  of  murdered  Ameri- 
cans, of  murdered  American  civilians,  and  of  murdered 
American  soldiers  wearing  the  American  uniform.  But 
President  Wilson  cared  as  little  for  the  deaths  of  these  men 
as  he  cared  for  the  honor  of  the  uniform.  He  with  "pleas- 
ure extended  the  hand  of  welcome"  to  the  man  guilty  of 
their  murder. 

Note-sending  Not  a  Success 

On  September  5th  there  appeared  in  the  newspapers  a 
statement  by  Secretary  of  the  Interior  Lane,  of  Mr.  Wilson's 
Cabinet,  who  is  engaged  in  the  humiliating  and  disgraceful 
negotiations  Mr.  Wilson's  government  is  carrying  on  with 
the  Mexican  representatives  at  New  London — and,  by  the 
way,  as  the  former  negotiations  were  said  to  be  with  the 
A,  B,  C  powers,  these  negotiations,  in  view  of  the  Mexican 
demands  for  money,  might  well  be  called  the  I.  0.  U  nego- 
tiations. Mr.  Lane  explained  that  in  endeavoring  to  get  a 
settlement  the  American  delegates  "will  not  resort  to  the 
note-sending  plan,"  and  he  adds  that  "note-sending  has  not 
been  a  success."  Mr.  Lane  is  entirely  right,  and  his  state- 
ment is  a  condemnation  of  the  entire  diplomatic  -policy  of 
the  President  in  whose  Cabinet  he  sits.  The  New  York 
Times,  under  date  of  February  llth,  stated  that  the  claims 
of  Americans  and  foreigners  for  the  loss  of  property  and 
life  in  Mexico  now  total  about  one  billion  dollars,  of  which  six 
hundred  millions  are  due  to  Americans,  and  the  other  four 
hundred  millions  to  natives  of  Germany,  England,  France 


38  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

and  Spain.  The  Times  further  mentioned  that  Mr.  Lane 
had  been  told  that  the  representatives  of  these  powers  re- 
garded the  United  States  as  obligated  to  make  good  their 
property  losses,  and  to  pay  indemnity  for  the  lives  of  their 
compatriots. 

It  was  also  announced  in  the  public  press  that  one 
hundred  million  dollars  was  expended  in  General  Pershing's 
expedition  into  Mexico,  and  that  we  are  now  expending 
fifteen  million  dollars  a  week  to  keep  one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  men  on  the  border  of  Mexico  in  order  to  enable 
Mr.  Wilson  to  continue  to  wage  peace  with  that  country. 
It  seems  probable  that  the  fruits  of  Mr.  Wilson's  policy  in 
Mexico  will  be  that  we  shall  find  ourselves  saddled  with  a 
debt  of  a  billion  and  a  half  dollars ;  while  already  many  more 
of  our  people  have  been  killed  than  were  killed  in  the  war 
with  Spain ;  and  our  policy  has  been  ruinous  to  Mexico,  dis- 
honorable to  ourselves,  and  infamous  from  the  standpoint 
of  humanity ;  while  not  the  slightest  progress  toward  a  per- 
manent settlement  has  been  made. ' 

In  dealing  with  foreign  nations,  if  we  are  to  retain  our 
self-respect,  and  protect  our  citizens,  the  first  essential  is 
that  when  we  speak  it  shall  be  understood  that  we  mean 
what  we  say.  In  his  speech  at  West  Point  on  June  2d  last, 
President  Wilson  said:  "Mankind  is  going  to  know  that 
when  America  speaks  she  means  what  she  says."  Most 
emphatically  mankind  will  never  know  this  as  long  as  Mr. 
Wilson  is  President. 

On  August  27th,  1913,  he  directed  the  American  Con- 
sul-General in  Mexico  to  notify  all  Mexican  officials  that 
"they  will  be  held  strictly  responsible  for  any  injury  done 
to  any  American,  or  for  injury  done  to  their  property."  On 
February  10th,  1915,  he  sent  his  first  note  to  Germany  as 
regards  the  use  of  submarines  in  sinking  merchant  vessels, 
warning  Germany  that  in  case  an  American  vessel  or  the 
life  of  an  American  citizen  should  be  destroyed  by  a  German 
submarine,  the  United  States  would  hold  the  Imperial  Gov- 
ernment of  Germany  to  "strict  accountability."  At  the 
same  time  Secretary  of  State  Bryan,  according  to  his  pub- 
lished statement,  informed  the  Austro-Hungarian  Ambassa- 
dor Dumba  that  the  note  was  intended  merely  for  "home 


Words  and  Deeds  39 

consumption,"  and  was  not  to  be  taken  seriously  by  Ger- 
many, and  he  reported  his  conversation  to  President  Wilson, 
who  approved  of  it.  This  makes  an  interesting  gloss  on  Mr. 
Wilson's  statement  that  ''Mankind  is  going  to  know  that 
when  America  speaks  she  means  what  she  says." 

Ships  Torpedoed  Continually 

On  March  28th,  1915,  the  steamship  Falaba  was  tor- 
pedoed, and  of  the  one  hundred  and  eighteen  persons 
drowned,  two  were  Americans.  On  May  1st,  1915,  the  Gul- 
flight,  an  American  vessel,  was  torpedoed  without  warning 
by  a  German  submarine,  and  the  lives  of  three  persons  on 
board  lost.  On  May  7th  the  Lusitania  was  torpedoed,  and 
thirteen  hundred  and  ninety-six  persons  were  drowned. 
But  President  Wilson  did  not  "make  mankind  know  that 
when  America  speaks  she  means  what  she  says."  On  the 
contrary,  he  selected  this  as  the  appropriate  occasion  for  his 
remark  about  being  "too  proud  to  fight."  He  did  not  hold 
Germany  to  strict  accountability.  He  did  not  hold  her  to 
any  accountability,  strict  or  loose.  He  wrote  notes.  We 
have  the  authority  of  Mr.  Lane,  Secretary  of  the  Interior, 
for  the  saying  that  "note-writing  has  not  proved  a  success." 
President  Wilson's  first  note  to  Germany  was  on  May  13th. 
Germany  answered  it  on  May  25th  by  torpedoing  the  Ne- 
braskan,  an  American  vessel.  On  June  9th,  President  Wil- 
son sent  his  second  note,  and  on  July  21st,  a  third.  Ger- 
many answered  these  notes  on  August  19th  by  sinking  the 
Arabic,  drowning  forty-one  persons,  including  two  Ameri- 
cans; and  on  September  6th,  the  Hesperian,  twenty-six 
persons  being  drowned,  including  two  Americans.  On  De- 
cember 30th,  the  Persia  was  sunk,  the  number  of  lives  lost 
being  three  hundred  and  thirty-eight,  including  two  Ameri- 
cans, one  of  them  a  Consul-General.  Other  vessels  have 
since  been  sunk.  No  atonement  has  been  made  by  Ger- 
many; and  in  more  than  one  case  the  newspapers  report 
that  the  captain  of  the  submarine  has  been  promoted  or 
decorated  as  a  reward.  You  ask  me  whether  I  would  have 
"gone  to  war"  in  such  a  case  ?  I  believe  that  a  firm  policy — 
such  a  policy  as  I  followed  while  I  was  President — would  have 
kept  us  out  of  war — as  it  actually  did  while  I  was  President. 


40  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

But,  if  in  order  to  stop  repeated  murders  of  our  men,  women 
and  children,  and  repeated  outrages  on  our  women,  it  had 
been  necessary  to  fight,  I  would  have  fought  on  the  drop 
of  a  hat. 

So  much  for  the  "strict  accountability"  to  which  Ger- 
many was  to  be  held.  The  "strict  responsibility"  to  which 
Mexico  was  to  be  held  resulted  in  precisely  a  similar  manner. 
While  Germany  was  drowning  between  one  and  two  hun- 
dred Americans,  and  a  couple  of  thousand  other  noncom- 
batants  who  were  at  sea,  the  Mexicans  were  killing  a  some- 
what larger  number  of  Americans,  and  a  still  larger  number 
of  other  noncombatants  on  land.  President  Wilson  did 
not  hold  Germany  to  "strict  accountability"  in  one  case,  and 
did  not  hold  Mexico  to  "strict  responsibility"  in  the  other. 
He  did  nothing  whatever.  Nobody  has  been  punished  for 
the  lives  lost. 

Mr.  Wilson's  Words  Mean  Nothing 

In  President  Wilson's  speech  of  acceptance,  he  said 
that  "the  loss  of  life  is  irreparable,"  and  that  the  "direct 
violation  of  a  nation's  sovereignty"  stands  on  a  similar 
plane,  and  that  "the  nation  that  violates  these  essential 
rights  must  expect  to  be  checked  and  called  to  account  by 
direct  challenge  and  resistance."  Words !  Very  fine  words ! 
They  would  have  meant  much  if  Andrew  Jackson  had  spoken 
them.  But  from  Mr.  Wilson  they  mean  absolutely  nothing. 
"Mankind  knows  that  when  America  speaks"  through  Presi- 
dent Wilson  she  does  not  mean  what  she  says,  and  will  take 
no  action.  Mr.  Wilson  never  ventured  for  one  moment  to 
"call  to  account  by  direct  challenge  and  resistance"  either 
Germany  or  even  Mexico.  He  says  quite  properly  that  "the 
loss  of  life  is  irreparable."  Therefore,  it  was  his  solemn 
duty  to  prevent  the  loss  of  life.  On  February  10th  he  issued 
his  strict  accountability  note.  On  March  28th,  the  Falaba 
was  torpedoed.  If  he  had  then  made  good  his  words;  if 
he  had  immediately  held  Germany  to  strict  accountability, 
not  one  of  the  subsequent  sinkings  would  have  taken  place. 
The  Lusitania,  the  Arabic,  the  Persia,  the  Sussex,  and  the 
other  vessels  would  be  afloat,  and  twenty-three  hundred 
men,  women  and  children  would  be  alive.  They  lost  their 


Words  and  Deeds  41 

lives  because  President  Wilson  did  not  venture  to  call  "to 
account  by  direct  challenge  and  resistance"  Imperial  Ger- 
many. He  did  not  dare  to  make  his  words  good. 

President  Wilson  says  in  his  speech  of  acceptance  that 
he  is  "more  interested  in  the  fortunes  of  oppressed  men  and 
pitiful  women  and  children  than  in  any  property  rights 
whatever."  President  Wilson  sent  note  after  note  to  Eng- 
land protesting  against  interference  with  property  rights; 
and  he  has  just  taken  action  on  behalf  of  property  rights, 
against  France  and  England,  which  if  he  had  really  thought 
about  it  in  advance,  and  meant  what  he  said,  might  very 
well  lead  to  the  most  serious  consequences  with  these  pow- 
ers. If  it  does  not  have  this  effect  it  will  be  because  Mr. 
Wilson's  words  will  again  be  left  unbacked  by  deeds.  This 
action  by  Mr.  Wilson  would  be  entirely  proper  and  necessary 
if  he  had  taken  the  right  position  on  behalf  of  Belgium  and 
had  exacted  prompt  atonement  for  the  murder  of  our  men, 
women  and  children  by  German  submarines.  But  it  is 
improper  when  he  has  done  none  of  these  things.  It  is 
sardonic  evidence  that,  if  he  thinks  a  political  purpose  is  to 
be  served,  he  will  instantly  show  far  more  "interest"  in 
"property  rights"  than  in  "the  fortunes  of  oppressed  men 
and  pitiful  women  and  children,"  whether  in  Louvain  or 
Lille,  in  the  United  States  or  in  Mexico,  or  on  the  high  seas 
or  anywhere  else.  If  he  had  really  shown  by  his  deeds  dur- 
ing the  past  two  years  an  effective  and  determined  purpose 
to  protect  our  own  "pitiful  women  and  children"  and  all 
other  "oppressed"  people,  if  he  had  been  their  resolute  and 
successful  champion,  it  would  now  be  his  clear  duty  to  take 
straightforward  and  effective  action  against  any  improper 
interference  with  our  mails  and  merchandise,  whether  by 
blacklist,  by  the  exercise  of  the  right  of  search  or  otherwise. 
If  he  had  thus  acted  in  the  past  on  behalf  of  human  rights, 
it  would  be  eminently  proper  to  stand  up  for  our  property 
rights  now.  But  the  action  actually  taken  by  the  President 
of -the  United  States  convicts  us  as  a  nation,  in  the  eyes  of 
other  nations,  and  above  all,  in  our  own  eyes,  as  being  guilty 
of  hypocritical  insincerity  in  the  whole  matter.  If  the 
President  had  begun,  two  years  ago,  effectively  and  actively 
to  prepare  our  military  and  naval  strength,  and  if  he 


42  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

had  meant  what  he  said,  and  had  clearly  shown  that  he 
meant  what  he  said,  we  would  have  rendered  real  service  to 
mankind,  we  would  have  safeguarded  all  our  rights,  we 
would  have  been  a  potent  force  for  peace,  and  we  would 
have  preserved  unstained  our  national  honor.  As  it  is, 
we  have  earned  the  derision  of  mankind  by  our  policy  of 
mixed  bluster,  hypocrisy,  and  unpreparedness,  and  we  have 
come  perilously  near  to  drifting  into  a  position  where  we 
would  have  to  face  the  alternatives  of  a  humiliating 
backdown  or  else  a  war  for  which  we  were  unprepared. 
President  Wilson  ne'ver  looks  ahead  either  when  he  utters 
threats  or  when  he  utters  fine  phrases  about  humanity.  In 
the  present  instance  we  may  or  may  not  have  trouble.  Prob- 
ably we  shall  avoid  it,  because  it  is  probable  that  in  the 
end  Mr.  Wilson  will  follow  his  usual  course  of  submitting 
to  wrongdoing  by  .every  one,  instead  of  standing  up  for  our 
rights  and  the  rights  of  humanity  against  every  one. 

Mexico  offers  the  most  striking  instance  of  contrast  be- 
tween words  and  deeds  on  the  part  of  our  government.  Mr. 
Wilson  speaks  loftily  on  behalf  of  "oppressed  men  and  pitiful 
women"  in  the  abstract;  but  when  the  forces  of  Garranza 
and  Villa  murdered  American  men,  and  outraged  American 
women,  acting  under  the  direct  authority  of  their  leaders, 
Mr.  Wilson  made  no  effective  protest  of  any  kind ;  and  in  his 
speech  of  acceptance  he  has  actually  apologized  for  these 
men  on  the  ground  that  they  "represented  at  least  the  fierce 
passions  of  reconstruction  which  lies  at  the  very  heart  of 
liberty."  It  is  difficult  to  speak  patiently  of  such  an  utter- 
ance, when  we  remember  the  infamy  which  it  covers,  and 
the  abject  submission  to  infamy  for  which  it  seeks  to 
apologize. 

President  Wilson  says  that  he  is  "interested  in  the 
fortunes  of  pitiful  women  and  children."  On  the  Lusitania 
there  were  drowned  103  babies  under  two  years  of  age ;  fifty 
of  them  being  babies  under  one  year  of  age.  How  did  Mr. 
Wilson's  "interest"  in  these  pitiful  women  and  children  show 
itself  ?  It  showed  itself  by  the  statement  just  two  days  later 
about  being  "Too  proud  to  fight."  It  showed  itself  in  his 
statement  a  little  over  two  weeks  later  to  the  effect  that  it 
was  inexpedient  then  to  arouse  the  spirit  of  patriotism.  Let 


Words  and  Deeds  43 

him  square  these  acts  with  these  words  of  his.  Let  him 
square  these  words  with  his  professions  of  "interest"  in 
the  fortunes  of  "pitiful  women  and  children."  Let  him 
square  his  absolute  failure  to  take  any  action  whatever  with 
his  statements  that  any  "nation  that  violates  our  essential 
rights  must  be  checked  and  called  to  account  by  direct  chal- 
lenge and  resistance."  Never  in  our  history  has  there  been 
such  ignoble  contrast  between  the  words  and  the  deeds  of  a 
chief  executive. 

A  Parallel  for  Mr.  Wilson's  Interest  in  Oppressed  Men 

There  is,  however,  a  parallel  for  the  kind  of  interest  and 
concern  President  Wilson  has  thus  shown  for  "oppressed 
men  and  pitiful  women  and  children."  But  we  have  to  go 
for  it,  not  to  history,  but  to  fiction.  His  attitude  recalls  that 
of  the  walrus  in  "Alice  Through  the  Looking  Glass,"  who 
took  the  oysters  out  to  walk  on  the  beach,  and  then  ate 
them  up.  While  eating  them  the  walrus  bewailed  their  fate ; 
and  his  words,  emotions  and  actions  are  thus  described: 

"I  weep  for  you,  the  walrus  said, 

I  deeply  sympathize; 
With  sobs  and  tears  he  sorted  out 

Those  of  the  largest  size, 
Holding  his  pocket  handkerchief 

Before  his  streaming  eyes." 

Mr.  Wilson's  Weasel  Words 

As  on  almost  every  question  President  Wilson  has  occu- 
pied at  least  two  diametrically  opposite  positions,  we  can 
usually  find  in  some  of  his  words  an  outline  of  the  position 
we  ought  to  have  taken ;  but  almost  without  exception,  these 
fine  words  have  had  the  meaning  weaseled  out  of  them  by 
other  words;  and  usually  there  have  been  no  deeds  what- 
ever. Take,  as  an  instance,  the  question  of  preparedness, 
and  of  the  means  necessary  to  secure  it.  In  the  fourteen 
months  extending  from  December  8th,  1914,  to  February 
10th,  1916,  there  were  fifteen  messages,  letters  and  speeches 
of  President  Wilson  which  I  have  read.  In  these  fifteen 
messages,  letters  and  speeches,  during  those  fourteen 
months,  President  Wilson  took  forty -one  different  positions 


44  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

about  preparedness  and  the  measures  necessary  to  secure 
it;  and  each  of  these  forty-one  positions  contradicted  from 
one  to  six  of  the  others.  In  many  of  his  speeches  the  weasel 
words  of  one  portion  of  the  speech  took  all  the  meaning  out 
of  the  words  used  in  another  portion  of  that  speech;  and 
these  latter  words  themselves  had  a  weasel  significance  as 
regards  yet  other  words.  He  argued  for  preparedness,  and 
against  preparedness.  He  stated  that  our  army  was  ample ; 
and  that  we  did  not  have  enough  troops  to  patrol  the  Mexi- 
can border  in  time  of  peace.  He  said  the  world  was  on  fire, 
and  that  sparks  were  liable  to  drop  anywhere  and  cause  us 
to  burst  into  flame ;  and  he  also  said  that  there  was  no  sud- 
den crisis ;  and  then  again  that  he  did  not  know  what  a  single 
day  would  bring  forth.  He  said  that  we  were  on  the  verge 
of  a  maelstrom ;  and  then  that  there  was  no  special  or  criti^ 
cal  situation.  He  said  the  danger  was  constant  and  imme- 
diate; and  also  that  we  were  not  threatened  from  any 
quarter.  He  said  that  there  was  no  fear  among  us;  and 
also  that  we  were  in  daily  danger  of  seeing  the  vital  interest 
and  honor  of  the  country  menaced  and  the  flag  of  the  United 
States  stained  with  impunity.  He  said  that  we  were  in  very 
critical  danger  of  being  involved  in  the  great  European 
struggle;  and  also  that  there  was  no  need  to  discuss  the 
question  of  defense,  or  to  get  nervous  or  excited  about  it.  In 
one  and  the  same  speech,  he  said  that  a  sufficient  number  of 
men  would  volunteer,  and  that  if  they  did  not  he  would  be 
ashamed  of  America ;  and  he  also  said  that  he  did  not  know 
of  any  law  which  laid  upon  them  the  duty  of  coming  into 
the  army,  if  it  should  be  necessary  to  call  for  volunteers. 
He  said  that  we  needed  500,000  volunteers,  and  that  if  there 
was  any  legitimate  criticism  of  this  demand  it  was  because 
it  was  too  small ;  and  as  soon  as  Congressman  Hay  objected 
to  the  plan,  he  promptly  abandoned  it.  He  said  that  the 
National  Guard  was  not  the  proper  body  upon  which  to  rely ; 
and  then  not  only  changed  his  own  mind  but  forced  his  own 
Secretary  of  War  out  of  his  Cabinet  because  this  Secretary 
possessed  less  flexible  convictions  and  was  unable  instantly 
to  reverse  himself  when  going  at  full  speed. 

When  the  President  argued  every  which  way,  and  stood 
on  every  side  of  every  proposal,  it  was  no  wonder  that  Con- 


Words  and  Deeds  45 

gress  was  puzzled.  Public  opinion  was  not  led  by  the  Presi- 
dent. He  followed  it  in  sharp  zig-zags,  now  in  one  direction, 
and  now  in  another,  as  he  believed  it  at  the-  moment  to  be 
going.  In  consequence,  the  laws  just  passed  for  our  military 
establishment  have  been  positively  mischievous,  and  they 
will  have  to  be  repealed  or  amended  before  any  really  good 
legislation  can  be  adopted.  The  course  of  the  administra- 
tion has  so  thoroughly  discredited  itself  in  the  public  mind, 
that  it  has  been  almost  impossible  to  get  recruits.  I  know 
of  many  old  soldiers  who  have  refused  to  re-enlist  because 
of  the  unsatisfactory  condition  of  our  military  laws  at  this 
moment,  and  above  all,  because  of  the  shameful  mishandling 
of  the  military  forces  during  the  past  three  years.  If  the 
recent  rate  of  recruiting  is  a  sample,  it  will  take  five  years 
to  increase  our  army  by  as  much  as  twenty  thousand  men, 
allowing  for  the  discharges. 

The  Democrats  and  the  Navy 

Six  years  ago,  in  1910,  as  soon  as  the  Democrats  got 
possession  of  the  House,  they  stopped  work  on  the  navy. 
From  being  the  second  naval  power  in  the  world  in  point  of 
size,  we  have,  .during  the  last  seven  years,  slipped  down  to 
being  the  fourth ;  and  under  Secretary  Daniels,  and  thanks 
to  the  action  of  President  Wilson,  our  efficiency  reached  its 
nadir.  Now  at  last,  and  many  years  too  late,  the  adminis- 
tration and  the  Democratic  leaders  in  Congress  have  turned 
in  panic,  and  are  now  seeking  to  build  the  navy.  The  plan 
they  have  authorized  is,  in  effect,  the  plan  for  which  I  asked 
eight  years  ago  in  my  message  of  April  14th,  1908,  when  I 
advocated  the  building  of  four  super-dreadnoughts  with,  of 
course,  other  vessels  in  proportion. 

The  difference  is  that  I  was  wise  before  the  event,  and 
they  after  the  event.  They  are  now  acting  too  late  to  have 
any  effect  upon  our  standing  during  the  present  war,  or  at 
the  period  of  settlement  immediately  following  its  conclu- 
sion. If  the  course  I  advocated  in  1908  had  been  followed 
and  our  foreign  affairs  had  been  handled  as  they  were  then 
being  handled,  there  would  never  have  been  an  American 
life  taken  by  any  representative  of  the  governments  of 
either  Mexico  or  Germany ;  and  there  would  never  have  been 


46  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

the  appalling  carnival  of  violations  of  international  law  that 
we  have  seen  during  the  past  two  years  and  a  quarter.  We 
cannot  undo  the  mischief  that  has  been  done  during  these 
three  years;  but  if  President  Wilson  is  re-elected,  we  can 
make  certain  that  this  mischief  will  be  repeated  and  per- 
petuated. We  must  elect  Mr.  Hughes  as  President,  and  we 
must  in  good  faith  take  a  policy  the  direct  reverse  of  the 
present  policy  of  feeble  vacillation  and  empty  elocution.  Let 
us  provide  for  a  great  navy,  the  second  in  size  in  the  world ; 
and  let  us  provide  for  a  regular  army  of  a  quarter  of  a  mil- 
lion men,  short  service  men,  so  that  we  can  have  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  men  who  can  be  concentrated  at  once 
on  the  Mexican  frontier,  or  on  either  coast,  if  there  is  serious 
trouble.  And  let  us  begin  patiently  and  farsightedly  to 
inaugurate  in  this  country  the  system  which  treats  the  per- 
formance of  the  duties  of  citizenship  as  a  necessary  comple- 
ment to  the  enjoyment  of  the  rights  of  citizenship.  Let  us 
provide  for  universal  obligatory  military  training  of  all  our 
young  men  in  time  of  peace,  and  for  the  recognition  of  the 
principle  that  in  time  of  war  every  man  and  every  woman  in 
the  country  is  bound  to  render  service  wherever  it  is  deemed 
that  he  or  she  can  render  it  best. 

Mr.  Hughes  and  Mr.  Wilson 

I  ask  you  to  test  the  character  and  courage  of  Mr. 
Hughes  and  Mr.  Wilson  by  comparing  their  attitudes  as 
regards  the  demands  of  the  railway  brotherhoods,  which 
culminated  recently  in  the  miscalled  eight-hour  legislation, 
at  Washington. 

During  the  last  eighteen  years,  covering  the  period 
when  I  was  Governor,  and  President,  I  have  hitherto  on 
every  important  issue  supported  the  brotherhoods.  I  am 
very  proud  of  the  fact  that  I  am  an  honorary  member  of 
one  of  the  brotherhoods.  I  have  publicly  stated  that  during 
the  ten  years  when  I  held  high  public  office,  I  found  myself, 
on  the  whole,  in  closer  agreement  with  the  Brotherhoods 
than  with  any  similar  organized  body,  whether  of  business 
men,  professional  men,  or  labor  men ;  with  the  possible  ex- 
ception of  the  members  of  the  surgical  and  medical  profes- 
sion, in  so  far  as  they  can  be  said  to  be  organized.  But  it  is 


Words  and  Deeds  47 

the  duty  of  every  good  American,  and  especially  every  good 
public  servant,  in  each  question  that  arises  touching  the  rela- 
tions of  labor  and  capital,  to  judge  that  particular  question 
squarely  on  its  merit.  I  equally  abhor  both  the  White 
Terror  and  the  Red  Terror,  and  I  will  stand  as  stoutly 
against  one  as  against  the  other.  We  have  seen  in  this 
country  few  things  more  discreditable  to  our  representa- 
tives and  more  ominous  for  the  future  of  the  nation  than 
the  spectacle  of  the  President  and  Congress  of  the  United 
States  being  required  to  pass  a  certain  bill  before  a  certain 
hour  at  the  dictation  of  certain  men  who  sat  in  the  gallery 
with  their  watches  in  their  hands  threatening  ruin  and  dis- 
aster to  the  nation  if  there  was  the  smallest  failure  to  sat- 
isfy their  demands. 

Conduct  Should  Be  the  Test 

As  President  I  dealt  at  various  times  with  both  corpora- 
tions and  labor  unions.  In  every  case,  according  to  the  best 
of  my  ability,  I  stood  in  favor  of  the  corporation  or  union 
that  was  doing  right,  and  against  the  corporation  or  union 
that  was  doing  wrong.  For  example,  I  stood  against  the 
Western  Federation  of  Miners  at  one  time,  just  as  I  stood 
against  the  richest  and  most  powerful  corporations  of  Wall 
Street  at  other  times.  I  am  therefore  not  asking  any  public 
servant  to  take  a  stand  which  I  myself  did  not  take  when  I 
was  in  public  office. 

The  Anthracite  Coal  Strike 

In  particular  I  ask  you  to  remember  the  Anthracite  Coal 
Strike,  because  the  menace  that  strike  contained  was  even 
greater  than  the  menace  of  a  general  tie-up  of  the  trans- 
portation systems  of  the  country;  for  it  meant  the  pos- 
sibility of  actual  death  by  cold  to  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  our  own  people.  At  that  time  the  great  and  wealthy 
mine  owners,  backed  by  the  heads  of  the  wealthiest 
and  most  powerful  industrial  and  railroad  corporations  in 
the  country,  refused  to  arbitrate.  The  men  struck.  Winter 
was  approaching,  and  fell  disaster  threatened  all  the  East- 
ern half  of  our  country.  The  representatives  of  the  mine 
owners  in  response  to  my  request  insisted  that  there  was 
nothing  to  arbitrate ;  and  through  their  counsel  also  insisted 
that  I  had  no  power  under  the  Constitution  to  act,  and  that 


48  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

the  public  could  not  interfere,  through  the  representatives 
of  the  public,  with  the  way  in  which  they  managed  their 
business.  I  took  the  opposite  view. 

Public  Need  Placed  First 

I  held  that  where  the  public  necessity  was  national  and 
imperative,  it  became  the  duty  of  the  chief  of  the  nation 
to  act.  I  held  that  in  any  such  gigantic  controversy  be- 
tween labor  and  capital  as  to  threaten  the  welfare  of 
the  nation,  there  were  three  parties  in  interest,  viz. : 
the  capitalists,  the  workingmen  and  finally  the  people 
as  a  whole;  and  that  where  the  public  need  was 
vital,  that  need  must  control.  I  specifically  took  the  view 
that  before  final  action  was  taken  on  the  points  at  issue,  we 
must  have  full  information,  given  to  the  public  and  the 
representatives  of  the  public  by  an  unbiased  body  after  a 
thorough  study  of  the  situation ;  that  the  power  of  the  Gov- 
ernment must  be  used  to  make  effective  the  findings  of  this 
body,  and  that,  pending  its  finding,  the  work  of  mining  must 
go  on,  because  the  public  need  so  demanded ;  and  that  there- 
fore I  would  use  the  entire  power  of  the  nation  to  see  that 
the  work  went  on,  that  there  was  an  arbitration  by  dispas- 
sionate experts,  and  that  the  conclusions  of  this  arbitration 
were  accepted.  When  the  mine  owners,  backed  by  the  most 
powerful  financial  interests  in  New  York,  refused  to  arbi- 
trate, I  proceeded  to  appoint  an  arbitration  commission 
without  regard  to  them,  and  I  secured  the  assent  of  a  politi- 
cal opponent,  Mr.  Cleveland,  an  ex-President  of  the  United 
States,  to  serve  as  head  of  that  commission.  I  saw  the 
Lieutenant-General  of  the  Army,  and  arranged  with  him 
that,  if  necessary,  I  would  put  the  army  in  possession  of  the 
mines  and  would  treat  him  as  the  receiver  to  run  the  mines, 
and  to  see  that  neither  side  interfered  with  the  running. 
Fortunately,  when  it  became  evident  that  I  would  put  my 
program  through  at  no  matter  what  hazard  or  difficulty, 
the  hazards  and  difficulties  both  vanished,  and  I  was  able  to 
secure  an  agreement  for  arbitration  and  for  the  return  of 
the  men  to  work  pending  the  result  of  the  arbitration. 

Eight-Hour  Day  Not  at  Issue 

I  believe  in  labor  unions.    But  I  believe  first  and  fore- 
most in  liberty  and  justice  obtained  through  the  Union  to 


Words  and  Deeds  49 

which  all  of  us  belong,  the  union  of  all  the  people  of  the 
United  States.  I  believe  in  the  eight-hour  day  as  the  general 
rule  toward  which  we  must  strive;  but  I  recognize  that 
special  needs  must  be  met  in  special  industries ;  and  that  in 
all  such  cases  there  must  be  very  careful  consideration  of  all 
the  conditions  before  final  action  is  taken.  In  this  case,  how- 
ever, the  eight-hour  day  is  not  the  issue.  'The  issue  is  an 
increase  of  wages,  given  by  law,  without  previous  investiga- 
tion or  knowledge.  The  principle  of  the  eight-hour  day  is 
not  at  issue  and  is  adroitly  invoked  merely  to  cloak  the  real 
issue. 

Eight  hours  may  be  the  outside  limit  of  proper  work 
time  in  Mr.  Ford's  factory,  where  the  man  is  all  the  time 
working  at  just  one  thing  intensively,  and  without  vacation; 
but  eight  hours  that  includes  periods  of  doing  nothing  but 
sit  around,  and  also  change  of  occupation,  may  not  be  long 
enough.  Moreover,  there  are  occupations  of  intermittent 
activity  where  to  limit  the  total  time  on  duty  in  any  one  day 
to  eight  hours  would  be  an  absurdity ;  and  there  are  others 
where  excessive  activity  on  one  day  is  compensated  for  by 
complete  leisure  on  the  following  day. 

Really  a  Wage -Increase  Bill 

The  case  at  issue  is  pre-eminently  one  that  comes  in  the 
category  of  those  that  can  be  settled  only  after  careful  inves- 
tigation and  full  consideration  of  many  important  conflicting 
elements.  I  believe  in  the  eight-hour  day,  on  moral  and 
sociological  grounds,  as  being  the  ideal  towards  which  we 
should  strive.  I  believe  in  wages  being  just  as  high  in  any 
business  as  is  compatible  with  square  treatment  to  the  other 
parties  in  interest.  But  if  the  Government  is  to  intervene 
in  order  to  secure  shorter  hours  and  better  wages  it  must  do 
so  only  after  full  knowledge  and  not  merely  under  the  duress 
of  threats.  Moreover,  the  issue  must  be  honestly  stated. 
The  Government  must  not  be  used  really  to  get  higher 
wages,  when  the  nominal  and  surface  demand  seems  to  be 
for  fewer  hours  of  labor.  It  appears  that  what  in  this  case 
is  demanded  is  not  really  a  day  of  eight  hours'  labor,  but  a 
higher  rate  of  pay  for  the  eight  hours,  or  a  higher  rate  of 
overtime  pay  beyond  eight  hours.  In  other  words,  it  is  not 


50  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

a  law  to  limit  hours  of  labor  in  the  sense  that  we  use  in 
speaking  of  an  eight-hour  day  for  women,  or  an  eight-hour 
law  for  three  shifts  in  continuous  industry.  It  is  primarily 
a  bill  to  secure  an  advance  in  wages;  the  securing  of  an 
eight-hour  day  is  wholly  secondary,  and  as  regards  many 
employees,  would  probably  not  be  brought  about  or  desired. 

Must  Have  Arbitration 

When  any  labor  trouble  becomes  of  such  size  as  to 
involve  the  public,  the  public  has  a  right  to  interfere,  to 
insist  that  there  shall  be  no  interference  with  the  welfare 
and  safety  of  the  public,  and  therefore  to  insist  on  arbitra- 
tion, that  is,  for  just  decision  by  the  Government,  after  an 
investigation  conducted  through  a  commission  which  will 
get  all  the  facts  and  lay  them  before  the  Executive  and 
Legislative  representatives  of  the  public  for  what  action 
they  deem  necessary.  These  were  the  principles  which  by 
actual  deed,  when  I  was  President,  I  upheld  in  the  teeth  of 
violent  opposition  from  the  most  powerful  corporations  in 
the  land,  representing  the  employers'  interest.  The  opposi- 
tion of  these  great  employing  corporations  was  asserted  in 
every  possible  way  against  me  throughout  the  period  when 
I  held  public  office  or  was  a  candidate  for  public  office.  I 
absolutely  disregarded  it,  because  I  thought  that  only  by 
disregarding  it  could  I  do  my  duty  to  the  country.  In  just 
the  same  way,  and  from  just  the  same  motives,  I  shall  now 
disregard  any  opposition  by  the  representatives  of  mis- 
guided labor  unions  to  the  principles  which  I  then  put  into 
effect,  and  which  they  then  applauded  me  for  putting  into 
effect.  As  I  said  when  I  was  President,  I  believe  that  the 
welfare  of  the  laboring  man,  with  the  sole  exception  of  the 
welfare  of  the  farmer,  is  more  important  to  this  country 
than  the  welfare  of  any  other  citizen ;  I  shall  do  all  I  can  to 
secure  his  permanent  welfare ;  I  shall  do  everything  in  my 
power  for  the  working  man  except  what  is  wrong;  but  I 
will  do  wrong  neither  for  him  nor  for  any  other  man. 

Must  Be  One  Law  for  All 

There  must  be  but  one  law  to  be  applied  in  these  cases, 
and  to  be  yielded  to  by  all  alike.  To  yield  to  the  threats  of  a 


Words  and  Deeds  51 

great  organized  body  of  workers  is  just  as  evil  and  cowardly 
a  thing  in  a  public  man  as  to  yield  to  the  influence  of  repre- 
sentatives of  great  organized  capital;  and  in  the  long  run 
just  as  dangerous  to  the  country.  It  is  a  wicked  and  a  peril- 
ous thing,  without  a  hearing,  without  regard  to  the  rights 
of  the  case,  to  burden  the  whole  country,  to  tax  the  whole 
country,  because  a  special  benefit  is  demanded  by  a  group 
of  voters  who  can  exert  formidable  political  pressure,  who 
threaten  temporary  inconvenience  and  damage,  and  who 
therefore  cow  timid  or  shifty  politicians.  Such  wrongdoing 
by  our  public  men  will  in  the  end  be  fraught  with  even 
greater  mischief  to  the  workers  than  to  the  capitalists,  for 
if  the  policy  of  yielding  to  improper  influence  is  substituted 
for  the  policy  of  justice,  in  the  long  run  capital  will  exert  an 
insidious  force  exceeding  any  that  the  labor  unions  can  bring 
to  bear.  It  has  been  well  said  that  "Democracies  cannot 
live  if  organized  minorities  can  force  them  to  unconsidered 
acts."  Whether  the  arrogant  disregard  of  justice  and  of  the 
public  weal  is  shown  by  organized  capital  or  organized  labor 
is  of  no  consequence  whatever.  If  either  is  permitted  to 
intimidate  the  representatives  of  the  people,  the  effect 
upon  free  institutions  will  be  equally  fatal. 

Action  Without  Knowledge 

The  representatives  of  the  brotherhoods  nominally  re- 
fused to  submit  the  question  to  arbitration.  What  they  really 
did  was  to  insist  upon  action  by  Congress  without  previous 
investigation,  without  full  knowledge,  and  indeed,  without 
any  knowledge.  The  President  made  their  action  his  own. 
He  therefore  denied  us  full  knowledge ;  and  all  that  we  can 
say  is  that,  with  the  knowledge  before  us  at  present,  it  ap- 
pears that  the  question  at  issue  was  not  really  that  of  an 
eight-hour  day  at  all,  but  of  an  increase  of  wages.  The 
demand  was  not  that  on  freight  trains  eight  hours  should  be 
made  the  day's  work,  but  that  eight  hours  should  "be  made 
the  measure  of  a  day's  work  for  the  purpose  of  receiving 
compensation,"  so  that  the  men  should  receive  the  same 
wages  that  they  now  receive  for  ten  hours'  work ;  and  that 
provision  should  be  made  for  overtime  at  about  the  rate  of 
time  and  one-half.  The  passenger  service  was  exempted. 


52  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

This  was  because  of  the  high-speed  basis  of  many  passenger 
schedules,  which  means  that  many  of  the  men  on  these 
trains  complete  their  day's  work  in  four  or  five  hours,  and 
that  because  of  the  mileage  basis  on  which  they  are  paid 
they  may  receive  in  one  day  pay  for  twenty  hours'  work 
although  they  do  not  work  ten  or  even  eight  hours  a  day. 
Now,  I  wish  it  distinctly  understood  that  I  am  not  in  the 
least  prepared  to  say  that  this  demand  is  wrong.  It  may  be 
absolutely  right.  My  point  is  that,  without  full  investiga- 
tion we  cannot  say  whether  it  is  right  or  wrong.  President 
Wilson  yielded  to  the  dictation  of  the  heads  of  the  brother- 
hoods, and  made  no  effort  to  find  out  whether  the  demand 
was  right  or  wrong.  He  made  no  effort  to  find  out  whether 
it  could  be  complied  with  without  raising  freight  rates.  He 
made  no  effort  to  find  out  all  the  equities  in  the  case ;  those 
affecting  the  men,  those  affecting  the  stockholders,  those 
affecting  the  shippers.  He  took  his  orders  from  that  one  of 
the  parties  in  interest  which  he  most  feared.  He  insisted  that 
the  law  be  passed  without  inquiry.  And  then  he  deferred 
the  operation  of  the  law  until  after  election,  which,  of  course, 
could  only  have  been  done  for  political  reasons.  We  have 
not  at  this  moment  any  power  to  determine  which  side  of 
the  controversy  is  right,  and  which  wrong.  We  do  not  know 
whether  it  is  right  to  increase  the  wages  without  increasing 
the  freight  rates ;  and  whether  in  such  event  it  is  proper  to 
the  public  that  both  the  rates  and  wages  shall  be  increased 
to  the  amount  this  bill  will  require ;  or  whether  any  increase 
in  rates  ought  to  be  made ;  or  whether  in  the  interest  of  the 
public  neither  wages  nor  rates  should  be  increased.  I  be- 
lieve, from  the  standpoint  of  the  "public  interest,  in  the 
proper  limitation  by  law  of  the  hours  of  work  on  railroads ; 
but  it  is  essential  that  there  shall  be  full  knowledge  and 
consideration  of  all  the  facts  before  determining  exactly 
what  the  law  shall  be. 

The  President  and  Congress  Coerced 

The  question  at  issue  was  not  that  of  an  eight-hour 
day  at  all.  The  question  was  whether  the  President  and 
Congress  should  enact  a  law,  without  investigation  and 
without  knowledge,  to  give  increased  wages  to  a  certain 


Words  and  Deeds  53 

portion  of  the  body  of  wage  earners.  The  labor  leaders 
on  this  issue,  without  regard  to  the  right  or  wrong  of  the 
matter,  first  coerced  the  President,  and  then  with  his  aid 
coerced  Congress.  The  question  at  issue  was  not  one  of 
hours  of  labor.  It  was  one  of  wages.  And  it  was  set- 
tled by  the  President  and  Congress  without  investigation 
and  without  knowledge.  The  settlement  was  due  partly 
to  fear  and  partly  to  hope  of  political  profit.  President 
Wilson  in  his  speech  on  the  23rd  of  this  month  sought  to 
explain  and  justify  his  action.  He  stated  his  whole  case 
with  probably  unconscious  accuracy  when  he  said  that  be- 
fore he  undertook  to  settle  the  controversy  he  had  "learned 
that  the  whole  temper  of  the  legislative  bodies  of  the 
United  States  was  in  favor"  of  what  one  side  announced 
to  be  its  contention.  In  other  words,  he  had  made  up  his 
mind  in  advance;  and  he  had  made  it  up  because  he  be- 
lieved the  majority  of  the  Congressmen  (for  the  most  part 
pure  politicians)  were  on  what  they  deemed  to  be  the 
popular  side.  In  this  speech  he  explicitly  admitted  that  in 
this  controversy  "the  main  partner  was  left  out  of  the 
reckoning,"  because  the  two  parties  declined  to  consider 
"what  rights  had  the  hundred  million  people  of  the  United 
States?"  And  President  Wilson  eagerly  joined  with  these 
men  in  refusing  to  consider  the  rights  of  these  hundred 
millions  of  people.  President  Wilson  knows  well  that  he 
has  betrayed  the  rights  of  these  people.  He  admits  that 
when  in  the  same  speech,  with  his  usual  faculty  for  using 
fine  words  about  the  future  when  he  desires  to  cover  up 
mean  deeds  in  the  present,  he  says,  "How  are  we  going  to 
prevent  any  organization  from  overriding  the  interests  of 
society  ?  .  .  .  America  has  the  privilege  to  say :  You  must 
not  interrupt  the  national  life  without  consulting  us." 
Exactly!  Fine  words!  Words  such  as  Mr.  Wilson  loves 
to  use.  And,  as  is  customary  with  Mr.  Wilson,  these  fine 
words  of  his  about  abstract  rights  are  flatly  contradicted 
by  his  unworthy  deeds  as  soon  as  the  concrete  case  arises. 
Mr.  Wilson  uses  these  lofty  words  about  the  future  at  the 
very  time  when  he  has  made  America  submit  to  seeing  "an 
organization  override  the  interests  of  society,"  when  by 
his  action  he  has  permitted  this  organization  to  "interrupt 


54  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

the  national  life  without  consulting  us."  Of  course,  it  is  a 
mere  pretense  to  say  that  there  is  any  sacred  social  reason 
why  there  is  any  greater  reason  to  refuse  to  arbitrate  the 
number  of  hours  of  labor  than  to.  refuse  to  arbitrate  the 
amount  of  wages.  And  the  question  really  at  issue  in 
this  case  does  not, really  refer  to  the  number  of  hours  of 
labor.  It  refers  really  to  the  rate  of  wages.  What  Mr. 
Wilson  really  did  was  to  insist  on  legislation  about  the 
wage  scale  without  any  previous  investigation  or  knowledge. 

Proper  Course  Abandoned 

For  years  the  great  railways  insisted  that  they  would 
not  arbitrate  such  cases;  that  they  would  not  admit  the 
right  of  the  Government  to  interfere.  Now  at  last  they 
have  been  brought  to  admit  that  they  will  accept  arbitra- 
tion. They  admit  the  right  and  the  duty  of  the  National 
Government  in  the  premises.  Immediately  thereupon  Presi- 
dent Wilson  and  the  majority  in  the  two  houses  of  Con- 
gress turn  around,  and  in  the  momentary  and  evanescent 
interest  of  a  small  section  of  labor  they  abandon  the  great 
principle  for  which  all  the  farsighted  champions  of  labor 
have  been  fighting.  They  thereby  put  a  premium  upon  the 
use  of  force,  by  threat  or  by  action,  in  order  to  secure 
special  privilege.  They  establish  a  most  evil  precedent,  the 
consequences  of  which  may  be  widespread  and  lasting. 

The  Right  Course 

There  was  but  one  course  that  could  rightly  have  been 
taken,  and  that  the  perfectly  simple  course.  The  President 
had  ample  knowledge.  He  had  many  weeks  in  which  to 
secure  proper  action  by  the  parties  to  the  controversy; 
and  if  either  would  not  agree  to  such  action,  he  had  ample 
time  in  which  to  get  Congress  to  give  him  any  power  nec- 
essary in  order  to  deal  thoroughly  and  without  difficulty 
with  the  situation.  If  the  regular  board  of  mediation  and 
conciliation  was  inadequate,  he  should  have  at  once  ap- 
pointed a  special  commission,  which  would  have  included 
men  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  situation  from  the 
wage  workers'  standpoint,  possessed  of  an  understanding 
sympathy  with  the  wage  workers,  and  incapable  of  being 


Words  and  Deeds  55 

bullied  or  of  being  influenced  in  any  improper  manner. 
The  President  should  have  insisted  that  every  matter  be 
laid  before  this  committee  of  arbitration,  and  nothing  with- 
held. The  commission  would  have  dealt  in  thoroughgoing 
and  satisfactory  fashion  with  all  the  various  questions  in- 
volved— all  of  which  are  interrelated  and  interdependent. 
It  would  have  dealt  with  the  question  of  an  eight-hour 
day,  and  with  the  complicated  question  of  the  amount  of 
wages  to  be  paid  for  that  day  and  for  overtime  in  the 
various  positions.  It  would  also  have  dealt  with  the  ques- 
tion as  to  whether  this  necessarily  meant  a  raise  of  rates. 
As  an  incident  to  this  it  would  have  had  to  take  up  the 
question  of  securing  just  renumeration  to  the  property 
holders;  and  therefore  it  would  have  had  to  deal  with  any 
question  of  recent  over-capitalization;  for  although  I  do 
not  believe  it  would  be  wise  to  take  up  old  cases  of 
over-capitalization  (where  grave  injustice  to  innocent  peo- 
ple would  be  caused  by  any  action)  any  recent  instance  of 
over-capitalization  should  be  accepted  as  having  been  gone 
into  after  full  notice  and  with  full  knowledge,  and  should 
be  punished  accordingly. 

Pending  the  decisions  of  the  commission,  it  should 
have  been  made  clear  that  the  President  would  permit  no 
interference  with  the  traffic  which  is  essential  to  the  life 
of  the  commonwealth;  that  there  should  be  no  stoppage  of 
the  arteries  of  circulation  in  the  body  politic  and  social; 
and  that  rather  than  see  such  a  stoppage  the  Government 
would  itself  run  the  trains  if  necessary  until  such  time  as 
the  commission  could  report.  When  the  commission's  re- 
port was  made,  it  would  have  become  the  duty  of  the  Gov- 
ernment to  see  that  it  was  put  into  effect,  and  in  case  of 
any  controversy  itself  to  interpret  and  apply  the  rules. 
That  was  the  course  demanded  by  courage  and  honor;  and 
that  was  the  course  demanded  by  every  man  to  whom 
Americanism  was  a  fact,  and  not  an  empty  phrase. 

If  the  improper  course  which  the  President  followed 
had  been  due  to  mistaken  conviction,  to  erroneous  principle, 
its  effect  would  nevertheless  have  been  evil.  As  it  is,  the 
effect  is  far  worse,  because  there  is  grave  reason  to  believe 
that  the  course  he  followed  was  directly  opposed  to  his  real 


56  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

convictions.  The  President  is  now  a  candidate  for  office 
and  speaks  well  of  labor.  Until  he  became  a  candidate 
for  office,  and  as  long  as  he  was  President  of  a  University, 
he,  with  entire  safety,  ignored  or  assailed  the  Labor 
Unions.  Indeed,  he  was  then  their  bitter,  ungenerous,  and 
often  unjust  critic.  At  the  People's  Forum  on  February 
25,  1905,  he  said :  "Labor  Unions  drag  the  highest  man  to 
the  level  of  the  lowest."  In  an  address  at  a  dinner  in  the 
Waldorf-Astoria  on  March  18,  1907,  in  speaking  of  the 
capitalists,  he  said :  "There  is  another  equally  formidable 
enemy  to  equality  and  betterment  of  opportunity,  and  that 
is  the  class  formed  by  the  labor  organizations  and  leaders 
of  this  country."  In  a  letter  written  January  12,  1909,  he 
said:  "I  am  a  fierce  partisan  of  the  open  shop."  In  June 
of  the  same  year,  speaking  at  Princeton,  he  said:  "The 
usual  standard  of  the  employee  in  our  day  is  to  give  as 
little  as  he  may  for  his  wages.  Labor  is  standardized  by 
the  trades  unions  and  this  is  the  standard  to  which  it  is 
made  to  conform.  I  need  not  point  out  how  economically 
disastrous  such  a  regulation  of  labor  is.  The  labor  of 
America  is  rapidly  becoming  unprofitable  under  this  regu- 
Jation.  Our  economic  supremacy  may  be  lost  because  the 
country  grows  more  and  more  full  of  unprofitable  serv- 
ants." I  have  no  question  that  when  Mr.  Wilson  thus 
spoke  he  expressed  his  sincere  convictions.  -Less  than  two 
years  later  he  was  in  public  life  and  immediately  his  atti- 
tude changed.  There  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  his  con- 
victions changed. 

Political  Expediency  First 

The  course  actually  followed  by  the  President  and  the 
majority  of  Congress  put  the  interests  of  the  country  sec- 
ond to  considerations  of  unhealthy  political  expediency.  It 
appealed  to  timid  and  shortsighted  men  outside  of  Con- 
gress no  less  than  to  those  within  Congress.  It  is  upheld 
now  by  certain  men  who  say,  "Thank  God,  President  Wilson 
averted  a  strike,"  just  exactly  as  they  and  those  like  them 
say,  "Thank  God,  President  Wilson  has  kept  us  out  of 
war."  These  persons  do  not  ask  whether  he  averted  the 
strike  honorably  or  dishonorably,  any  more  than  they  ask 


Words  and  Deeds  57 

whether  he  averted  a  war  honorably  or  dishonorably. 
They  have  not  considered  in  either  case  whether  temporary 
safety  was  to  be  ignobly  purchased  at  the  cost  of  future 
disaster.  All  that  they  have  demanded  was  that  war  should 
be  averted  in  one  case,  and  a  strike  averted  in  the  other 
case,  in  order  that  they  might  not  have  to  undergo  risk  or 
temporary  material  discomfort.  They  have  been  too  timid 
and  too  shortsighted  to  make  any  sacrifice  for  the  sake  of 
right  and  justice,  or  to  undergo  any  risk  in  order  to  pre- 
serve the  foundations  of  Democracy  and  of  Free  Govern- 
ment in  America.  These  men  have  shown  entire  willing- 
ness to  submit  to  organized  tyranny  both  from  outside  our 
borders  and  from  inside  our  borders,  if  only  at  the  mo- 
ment they  could  avoid  inconvenience  and  financial  loss. 
These  men  are  not  the  heirs  of  the  Americans  who  brought 
the  Revolutionary  War  to  a  successful  close  nor  of  the  men 
who  wore  the  Blue  and  the  Gray  for  four  long  years  in  the 
great  struggle  of  the  Civil  War.  If  the  American  people 
of  today  are  willing  to  accept  such  leadership,  they  will 
give  justification  for  the  belief  that  they  prize  ease  and 
comfort  above  the  principles  for  which  their  forefathers 
suffered  and  died. 

An  Invitation  to  Disaster 

We  of  the  United  States  invite  disaster,  we  sacrifice 
every  principle  of  manhood,  if  we  raise  a  breed  of  men  in 
this  country  who  determine  vital  issues  in  such  fashion. 
Such  men  when  they  face  any  issue  merely  ask  if  it  is 
difficult  to  meet  it  honestly  and  bravely;  and  if  it  is,  they 
instantly  proceed  to  meet  it  dishonestly  and  timidly.  They 
measure  the  acts  of  their  public  men  in  terms  of  imme- 
diate material  content  and  ease.  They  do  not  require 
them  to  act  in  terms  of  right  and  justice.  They  say  that 
they  stand  for  the  administration  because  it  has  kept  us 
out  of  war,  and  has  averted  a  strike.  They  refuse  seriously 
to  consider,  as  all  high-minded  Americans  ought  to  con- 
sider, the  President's  refusal  to  do  his  plain  and  honest 
duty  by  meeting  great  crises  honorably  and  courageously. 

If  our  people  follow  the  President  who  has  kept  them 
in  the  easy  path  of  temporary  comfort  and  material  ease 


58  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

at  the  sacrifice  of  national  honor  and  of  true  Americanism, 
and  of  the  immutable  principles  of  righteousness,  then  as 
a  people  we  shall  lose  all  moral  greatness  in  the  present, 
and  most  assuredly  we  shall  see  this  loss  followed  by  the 
loss  of  material  greatness  in  the  future. 

Promise  and  Performance 

An  ounce  of  performance  outweighs  a  ton  of  promise. 
In  all  these  cases  whenever  there  was  any  risk,  any  danger 
to  be  encountered,  President  Wilson  has  promptly  retreated. 
He  has  then  sought  to  cover  his  retreat  by  uttering  high- 
sounding  words.  But  in  these  cases  his  high-sounding 
words  amount  to  absolutely  nothing.  Only  his  acts,  or 
failures  to  act,  count.  In  the  anthracite  strike  we  settled 
the  principle  that  the  public  rights  are  superior  to  any 
private  rights  in  matters  of  vital  public  moment.  Presi- 
dent Wilson  surrendered  this  principle  at  the  demand  of 
the  great  labor  leaders,  without  investigation  and  regard- 
less of  the  facts,  and  shifted  the  burden  to  the  public,  while 
abandoning  the  rights  of  the  public.  For  justice  in  dealing 
between  capital  and  labor  he  has  substituted  the  policy  of 
craven  surrender  to  whichever  side  has  the  superiority  in 
brute  force.  Once  more  in  our  internal  affairs,  as  in  our  ex- 
ternal affairs,  he  has  stood  for  peace  at  any  price.  He 
refuses  to  look  ahead.  He  shows  not  one  shred  of  that 
stern  and  unyielding  courage  which  enables  a  leader  to 
face  temporary  risk,  discomfort  and  hardship  for  the  sake 
of  a  lofty  ideal  and  a  splendid  ultimate  triumph.  He  was 
cowed  by  the  big  labor  leaders  exactly  as  he  had  already 
been  cowed  by  Germany  and  by  Mexico.  He  himself 
acknowledged  the  evil  of  the  situation  when  he  said,  "It 
must  never  be  allowed  again/'  But  by  his  actions  he  has 
guaranteed  that  it  will  arise  again,  whenever  there  is  in  the 
White  House  a  man  too  timid '  to  face  threats  or  front 
danger.  Mr.  Wilson's  acts  in  the  White  House  have  shown 
that  what  he  seeks  in  any  emergency  of  this  nature  is  mo- 
mentary relief,  temporary  safety,  purchased  at  whatever 
cost  of  present  ignominy  and  at  whatever  risk  of  future 
disaster.  President  Wilson  has  announced  that  in  theory 
he  stood  for  arbitration  in  such  matters,  but  the  minute 


Words  and  Deeds  59 

that  he  was  threatened  he  not  only  -abandoned  the  principle 
but  supported  the  assault  on  it.  The  union  leaders  an- 
nounced that  they  had  "steadily  refused  to  arbitrate,"  and 
that  in  their  action  they  were  "supported  by  the  President 
of  the  United  States."  President  Wilson  was  the  guardian 
of  the  public  weal.  He  betrayed  the  public  weal.  This  is 
specifically  set  forth  in  the  official  announcement  of  the 
chairman  of  the  union  representatives,  who  thus  described 
the  contest: 

"In  times  like  this  men  go  back  to  primal  instinct — 
to  the  day  of  the  caveman,  who,  with  his  half-gnawed 
bone  snarled  at  the  other  caveman  who  wanted  to  take  his 
bone  away.  We  leaders  are  fighting  for  our  men,  the  rail- 
roads are  fighting  for  their  stockholders,  and  the  shippers 
for  themselves.  And  the  public  will  pay."  And  President 
Wilson  let  the  public  pay.  He  let  the  contest  be  decided 
not  on  principles  of  justice,  but  by  the  rules  obtained  be- 
tween cavemen  snarling  over  a  bone.  No  wonder  that  the 
rugged  cavemen  of  industrial  warfare  treated  with  utter 
contempt  the  feeble  appeals  of  the  apostle  of  peace  at  any 
price. 

Lasting  Harm  Done  to  Nation 

By  his  actions  President  Wilson  did  lasting  harm 
to  the  nation.  The  vice  of  his  procedure  was  four-fold.  He 
delivered  a  deadly  blow  at  the  principle  of  industrial  arbi- 
tration. He  immensely  weakened  the  power  of  the  National 
Executive  to  act  under  such  conditions  on  behalf  of  the 
public.  He  established  the  shameful  and  perilous  prece- 
dent that  the  Government  of  the  United  States  can  be  co- 
erced, and  legislation  extorted  from  Congress,  by  terror- 
ization  and  the  threat  of  violence.  He  aided  in  securing  a 
settlement  which  puts  a  premium  on  the  overriding  of 
justice  by  appeals  to  brute  force. 

"The  Sanction  of  Society" 

President  Wilson  seeks  to  justify  himself  on  the 
ground  that  it  was  "futile"  and  dangerous  to  "stand  firm- 
ly." This  is  an  appeal  that  can  with  equal  truth  be  made 
by  every  soldier  who  runs  away  in  battle.  He  further  al- 


60  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

leges  his  belief  that  the  cause  he  championed  "has  the  sanc- 
tion of  the  judgment  of  society  in  its  favor."  I  remember 
thirty-odd  years  ago  in  the  Black  Hills  a  local  vigilance 
committee  which  was  in  doubt  about  hanging  a  suspected 
wrongdoer.  While  they  were  discussing  the  matter,  there 
appeared  over  the  neighboring  divide  a  frowsy,  elderly 
horseman  in  a  linen  duster,  who  promptly  galloped  towards 
them,  waving  his  arms  and  shouting  "Hang  him!  Hang 
him!"  The  leader  of  the  vigilantes  at  once  asked  the 
frowsy  stranger  what  he  knew  of  the  facts,  whereupon  the 
stranger  answered:  "I  do  not  know  anything  about  the 
facts,  and  I  never  saw  the  man  before;  but  there's  eleven 
of  you  and  only  one  of  him,  and  I  believe  in  majority  rule!" 
This  is  merely  a  picturesque  paraphrase  of  what  Mr.  Wil- 
son calls  action  under  "the  sanction  of  society."  It  ex- 
emplifies the  principles  upon  which  President  Wilson  has 
acted  in  those  public  matters,  internal  and  external,  where 
he  was  threatened  with  the  use  of  force. 

Elect  Hughes 

I  appeal  to  my  fellow  citizens  that  they  shall  elect 
Mr.  Hughes  and  repudiate  Mr.  Wilson  because  only  by  so 
doing  can  they  save  America  from  that  taint  of  gross  sel- 
fishness and  cowardice  which  we  owe  to  Mr.  Wilson's 
substitution  of  adroit  elocution  for  straightforward  action. 
The  permanent  interests  of  the  American  people  lie,  not 
in  ease  and  comfort  for  the  moment,  no  matter  how  ob- 
tained, as  Mr.  Wilson  would  teach  us,  but  in  resolute 
championship  of  the  ideals  of  national  and  international 
democratic  duty,  and  in  preparedness  to  make  this  cham- 
pionship effective  by  our  strength.  President  Wilson  em- 
bodies in  his  person  that  most  dangerous  doctrine  which 
teaches  our  people  that  when  fronted  with  really  formidable 
responsibilities  we  can  shirk  trouble  and  labor  and  risk, 
and  avoid  duty  by  the  simple  process  of  drugging  our 
souls  with  the  narcotic  of  meaningless  phrasemongering. 
Mr.  Hughes,  to  the  exact  contrary,  embodies  the  ideal  of 
service  rendered  through  conscientious  effort  in  the  face 
of  danger  and  difficulty.  Mr.  Wilson  turns  his  words  into 
deeds  only  if  this  can  be  achieved  by  adroit  political 


Words  and  Deeds  61 

maneuvering,  by  bartering  a  debauched  civil  service  for 
congressional  votes  on  behalf  of  some  measure  which  he. 
had  solemnly  promised  to  oppose.  Our  own  self-respect 
demands  that  we  support  the  man  of  deeds  done  in  the 
open  against  the  man  of  furtive  and  shifting  political 
maneuvers ;  the  man  of  service  against  the  man  who,  when- 
ever opposed  by  a  dangerous  foe,  always  takes  refuge  in 
empty  elocution. 

There  is  nothing  that  we  of  this  country  so  much  need 
as  to  practice  the  doctrine  of  service.  As  a  people  we 
need  the  sterner  virtues  even  more  than  we  need  the  softer 
virtues.  Material  prosperity,  bodily  ease,  money,  pleasure, 
are  all  desirable;  but  woe  to  us  if  we  consider  them  as 
the  be-all  and  end-all  of  our  private  lives  or  of  our  col- 
lective national  life!  Woe  to  us  if  our  material  prosperity 
brings  in  its  wake  lethargy  of  spirit  and  deadness  of  soul! 
Let  us  in  our  lives  apply  the  great  doctrines  of  duty  and 
of  service.  Above  all  let  us  realize  that  lofty  profession  is 
a  mischievous  sham  when  it  is  not  translated  into  efficient 
performance.  Among  the  companions  of  Lucifer  in  Mil- 
ton's mighty  epic  there  was  none  among  the  fiercer  fiends 
so  dangerous  as  he  who 

"With  words  clothed  in  reason's  garb, 
Counselled  ignoble  ease  and  peaceful  sloth, 
Not  peace." 


THE  SQUARE  DEAL  IN   INDUSTRY 
Wilkes-Barre,  Pennsylvania,  October  14,  1916 


I  HAVE  accepted  the  invitation  to  come  to  Wilkes-Barre, 
to  discuss  the  Adamson  law,  because  Wilkes-Barre  is  the 
headquarters  of  the  great  industry  in  connection  with  which 
I  myself  as  President  was  brought  into  close  and  intimate 
touch  with  the  labor  movement  in  this  country.  If  what  I 
have  to  say  is  of  any  value  it  must  be  not  only  because  it 
represents  what  in  the  abstract  is  right,  but  also  because 
in  the  concrete  I  applied,  in  actual  practice,  when  I  had 
power,  the  principles  which  I  criticize  Mr.  Wilson  for  not 
applying  now.  Therefore,  I  wish  to  recapitulate  to  you  just 
what  occurred  in  connection  with  the  anthracite  coal  strike 
and  to  contrast  it  with  what  Mr.  Wilson  has  done  in  con- 
nection with  the  law  for  the  increase  of  wages  on  railroads. 

United  States  First 

At  the  outset,  I  wish  to  express  my  very  hearty  admi- 
ration for  the  Brotherhoods.  I  am*  proud  of  the  fact  that  I 
am  an  honorary  member  of  one  of  them.  I  have  usually 
been  in  entire  sympathy  with  them.  While  I  held  public 
office  I  found  myself,  in  the  vast  majority  of  cases,  able  to 
support  them  in  their  demands,  because  these  demands  were 
right.  But  now  they  have  demanded  legislation  raising 
their  wages  to  be  taken  without  investigation  and  without 
the  exercise  of  that  form  of  judgment  shown  by  a  compe- 
tent arbitration  commission;  and  such  a  demand  is  wrong, 
and  I  stand  against  it  because  it  is  wrong,  exactly  as  I  have 
stood  against  the  demands  of  bankers  and  lawyers,  and 
mine  owners  and  railroad  presidents  when  they  were  wrong. 
I  believe  in  labor  unions.  I  am  proud  that  I  am  myself  an 
honorary  member  of  a  labor  union.  But  I  believe  first  of  all 
in  the  Union  to  which  all  of  us  belong,  the  union  of  all  the 
people  of  the  whole  United  States. 

62 


The  Square  Deal  in  Industry  63 

President's  Action  Wrong  by  His  Own  Statement 

In  the  case  of  the  settlement  of  the  anthracite  coal 
strike,  the  action  I  took  was  of  precisely  the  kind  which 
President  Wilson  now  says  the  law  should  make  obligatory 
in  all  similar  cases  in  the  future.  But  Mr.  Wilson  himself 
admits  that  his  own  action  was  so  bad  that  it  ought  never 
to  be  repeated,  for  he  has  assured  the  public  that  although 
Congress  has  adjourned  without  doing  anything,  it  is  his 
intention  when  Congress  meets  to  see  that  it  does  some- 
thing to  render  it  impossible  for  another  President  ever  to 
repeat  exactly  what  he  has  just  done.  In  other  words,  I 
stood  and  stand  by  my  action  as  the  proper  action,  constitut- 
ing the  proper  precedent  for  future  action.  Mr.  Wilson 
himself  confesses  that  his  action  was  wrong  and  that  the 
precedent  thereby  set  is  so  evil  that  legislation  must  be  en- 
acted rendering  it  impossible  for  another  President  ever  to 
repeat  the  action. 

There  is  another  point  of  difference,  and  a  vital  point. 
The  action  I  took  was  intended  to  meet  the  situation  at 
once.  The  action  that  Mr.  Wilson  took  has  been  deferred 
so  that  it  shall  not  take  place  until  considerably  after  elec- 
tion. 

The  Anthracite  Coal  Strike 

Fourteen  years  ago  the  great  anthracite  coal  strike 
had  occurred  in  this  region.  From  the  beginning  I  put  the 
governmental  agents  in  touch  with  the  situation  and  kept 
myself  thoroughly  informed,  so  that  I  should  be  able  to  act 
immediately  if  it  became  necessary  for  me  to  act.  I  hoped 
that  it  would  not  be  necessary,  and  that  the  parties  them- 
selves would  come  to  an  agreement ;  for  I  was  very  loath  to 
interfere  if  it  could  be  avoided.  But  cold  weather  approached, 
a  coal  famine  menaced  the  entire  eastern  section  of  the 
United  States,  and  there  was  not  the  slightest  symptom  of 
an  agreement  being  reached  by  the  contending  parties.  I 
felt  that  the  time  had  come  for  me  to  act.  On  the  one  side 
were  the  greatest  and  wealthiest  mine-owners  of  the  coun- 
try, intimately  connected  with  the  wealthiest  and  most 
powerful  industrial  and  railroad  corporations  in  the  coun- 
try. These  men  absolutely  refused  to  arbitrate.  They  said 


64  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

there  was  nothing  to  arbitrate,  that  I  had  no  power  under 
the  Constitution  to  act,  and  that  the  public  could  not  inter- 
fere, nor  the  representatives  of  the  public,  with  the  way  in 
which  they  managed  their  business.  The  representatives 
of  the  mine  workers,  of  labor,  on  the  contrary,  expressed 
their  entire  willingness  to  arbitrate  and  demanded  nothing 
except  that  as  one  of  the  conditions  of  arbitration  there 
should  be  some  representative  of  organized  labor  to  sit 
together  with  the  representatives  of  capital  and  of  the  pub- 
lic at  large.  I  made  every  effort  to  get  the  two  sides  to 
agree.  When  I  failed,  I  decided  that  I  would  act  myself. 
I  held  that  where  the  public  necessity  was  national  and  im- 
perative it  became  the  duty  of  the  Chief  of  the  Nation  to 
act.  I  held  that  in  any  such  gigantic  controversy  between 
labor  and  capital,  containing  such  a  threat  to  the  welfare 
of  the  great  body  of  our  people,  there  were  three  parties  in 
interest:  viz.,  the  capitalists,  the  workingmen,  and  the  peo- 
ple as  a  whole ;  and  that  where  the  public  need  was  vital  that 
need  must  control. 

Arbitration  Insisted  Upon 

I  held,  moreover,  that  in  any  case  of  such  importance 
and  such  interest  we  must  have  full  knowledge  before  final 
action  on  any  of  the  points  at  issue  was  taken,  and  that  this 
knowledge  must  be  obtained  by  an  unbiased  body  of  arbitra- 
tors after  a  thorough  study  of  the  situation.  I  held  that  the 
power  of  the  Government  must  be  used  to  make  effective 
the  findings  of  this  body,  and  that  pending  the  findings  the 
work  of  mining  must  go  on  because  the  public  need  de- 
manded it.  Therefore,  I  decided  that  I  would  use  the  entire 
power  of  the  nation  to  see  that  there  was  an  arbitration  by 
dispassionate  experts,  and  that  the  conclusions  of  that  arbi- 
tration were  accepted  by  both  sides,  and  that  until  their 
decision  was  rendered  the  work  of  mining  should  go  on  in 
the  interests  of  the  people  as  a  whole.  When  the  mine 
owners,  backed  by  and  representing  the  most  powerful  finan- 
cial interests  of  the  country,  positively  refused  to  arbitrate, 
I  proceeded  to  appoint  an  Arbitration  Committee  without 
regard  to  them ;  securing  the  consent  of  a  political  opponent, 
ex-President  Grover  Cleveland,  to  serve  at  the  head  of  that 


The  Square  Deal  in  Industry  65 

commission.  I  saw  the  Lieutenant-General  of  the  Army 
and  arranged  with  him  that  if  necessary  I  would  put  the 
army  in  possession  of  the  mines  and  would  treat  him  as  a 
receiver  to  run  the  mines,  and  to  see  that  neither  side  inter- 
fered with  the  mining.  When  it  became  evident  that  I 
meant  what  I  said,  that  both  sides  could  count  on  my  en- 
deavor to  do  strict  justice,  and  that  they  could  also  count 
on  my  insisting  that  the  public  needs  be  immediately  met, 
the  capitalists  yielded  and  the  Commission  was  appointed. 

You  know  the  rest,  you  miners  here!  Work  was  re- 
sumed in  the  mines  immediately,  on  the  old  terms,  which 
continued  until  the  Commission  reported.  The  Commission 
consisted  of  as  able  and  as  impartial  men  as  there  were  in 
the  country,  including  the  head  of  the  Order  of  Railway 
Conductors,  Mr.  Clark.  It  also  included  among  others,  a 
Federal  Judge,  a  skilled  engineer,  a  trained  labor  expert  and 
a  beloved  friend  of  mine,  Archbishop  Spaulding,  of  Illinois, 
whose  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  workingmen  was  gen- 
uine and  sympathetic,  and  who  also  understood  with  entire 
clearness  that  in  the  long  run  justice  to  the  workingmen 
could  be  permanently  secured  only  if  it  was  made  part  of 
a  scheme  to  secure  justice  for  everybody  concerned. 

Arbitration  Successful 

The  arbitration  was  successful.  I  understand  that  with 
slight  modifications,  you  have  continued  to  operate  the 
mines  under  its  terms  up  to  the  present  day.  More  im- 
portant still,  it  set  the  precedent  for  the  course  that  ought 
to  be  followed  in  all  disputes  of  this  nature  hereafter.  Mr. 
Wilson,  on  the  contrary,  has  set  a  precedent  which  he  him- 
self admits  must  never  hereafter  be  followed  if  justice  is 
to  be  done.  This  is  a  vital  point  of  difference  between  the 
conduct  of  the  Chief  Executive  in  one  case  and  in  the  other. 
When  fourteen  years  ago,  I  acted,  there  was  no  precedent 
for  me  to  follow,  and  no  established  instrumentalities 
through  which  to  work.  I  had  to  establish  the  precedent  in 
order  to  meet  a  great  crisis.  I  had  to  create  my  own  instru- 
ment, the  Arbitration  Commission.  Mr.  Wilson  had  before 
him  the  precedent  I  had  created,  and  he  had  as  instruments 
ready  to  hand  the  Arbitration  Board,  and  the  Interstate 


66  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

Commerce  Commission,  with  its  enlarged  powers.  But  he 
failed  to  follow  the  precedent,  or  to  use  the  instruments 
which  were  ready  to  his  hand.  I,  although  lacking  the 
agencies  of  law  for  the  application  of  the  principle,  never- 
theless applied  it,  and  established  arbitration  in  the  settle- 
ment on  their  merits  of  industrial  disputes.  Mr.  Wilson, 
with  all  the  agencies  of  law  subject  to  his  command,  ignored 
them,  destroyed  the  principle  of  arbitration  in  the  settle- 
ment of  industrial  disputes,  and  put  a  premium  on  securing 
this  settlement  by  threat  and  duress. 

The  President  Condemns  Himself 

President  Wilson  in  his  speeches  of  August  29th  and 
September  23d  has  furnished  his  own  condemnation  out 
of  his  own  mouth.  In  them  he  explicitly  condemns  exactly 
what  he  has  done  and  actually  demands  legislation  which 
will  make  impossible  the  repetition  of  such  a  proceeding! 
This  is  so  extraordinary  an  attitude  that  I  quote  his  own 
words.  He  said  he  wished  "to  provide"  against  "the  recur- 
rence of  such  unhappy  situations  in  the  future"  by  securing 
"the  calm  and  fair  arbitration  of  all  industrial  disputes  in 
the  days  to  come."  This  is  an  explicit  assertion  that  arbi- 
tration of  all  industrial  disputes  is  the  right  method  of  ac- 
tion; and  therefore  that  he  had  adopted  the  wrong  method 
of  action — although  in  the  case  of  the  anthracite  coal  strike 
he  had  an  exact  precedent  in  point,  by  following  which  he 
would  have  enforced  the  right  method. 

President  Wilson  further  says,  "This  is  assuredly  the 
best  way  of  vindicating  a  principle,  namely,  having  failed  to 
make  certain  of  its  observance  in  the  present  to  make  cer- 
tain of  its  observance  in  the  future."  On  the  contrary, 
this  is  the  very  worst  way  of  vindicating  a  principle.  In- 
deed, it  is  impossible  to  devise  a  worse  way  of  vindicating 
a  principle,  than  to  flinch  ignominiously  from  enforcing  it  in 
the  case  at  issue  and  at  the  same  time  to  seek  to  cover  the 
ignominy  by  vociferous  protestations  about  applying  it  in 
the  nebulous  future.  The  same  paper,  the  New  York  Times, 
from  which  I  quote  the  above  sentences,  contained  state- 
ments from  the  leaders  of  the  Brotherhoods  whom  he  was 
befriending,  in  which  they  said  that  they  would  never  con- 


The  Square  Deal  in  Industry  67 

sent  to  the  legislation  providing  for  future  arbitration  for 
which  President  Wilson  asked;  and  President  Wilson  kept 
a  weak  and  nervous  silence  about  this  defiance.  He  did  not 
get  the  legislation  which  he  declared  was  essential  to  "vin- 
dicate the  principle"  in  the  future.  All  that  he  accomplished 
was  the  violation  of  the  principle  in  the  present,  in  the  con- 
crete case  at  issue.  The  only  law  he  secured  established  the 
precedent  of  violation  of  the  principle.  All  that  he  did  was 
to  establish  the  most  evil  of  all  precedents  for  a  democracy, 
the  precedent  of  violating  a  principle  under  the  duress  of 
threat  and  menace.  It  is  a  precedent  which  will  return  to 
plague  us  throughout  all  future  time  whenever  we  have  in 
the  White  House  a  President  who  is  timid  in  the  face  of 
threat  of  physical  violence  or  who  subordinates  duty  to  the 
hope  of  personal  political  profit. 

President  Wilson  further  said,  while  trying  to  gloss 
over  his  timidity  in  the  present  by  assuming  an  attitude  of 
frowning  defiance  as  regards  the  nebulous  future,  that  the 
American  people  must  hereafter  be  made  "a  partner  in  the 
settlement  of  disputes  that  interrupt  the  life  of  the  nation/' 
that  it  must  "enforce  the  partnership  and  see  to  it  that  no 
organization  is  stronger  than  that  organization  to  which  we 
all  belong,  our  own  Government,"  and  that  we  the  people 
must  say  to  any  outside  organization  that  it  "must  not  inter- 
rupt the  National  life  without  consulting  us."  These  are  fine 
words  about  the  future.  They  are  intended  to  cover  up, 
but  as  a  matter  of  fact,  they  furnish  the  strongest  condem- 
nation of,  Mr.  Wilson's  deed  in  the  present.  In  these  words 
Mr.  Wilson  exactly  describes  what  he  ought  to  have  done 
with  the  Brotherhoods,  and  explicitly  condemns  the  action 
which  he  in  fact  took.  If  the  principles  he  laid  down  were 
good  for  the  future,  they  were  good  for  the  present.  Do  it 
now,  Mr.  Wilson!  Do  not  use  fine  words  about  what  some- 
body else  ought  to  do  in  the  future  in  order  to  cover  your 
own  shameful  abandonment  of  duty  in  the  present. 

Wages,  Not  Hours,  at  Issue 

Mr.  Wilson  has  adroitly  maintained  that  the  question 
at  issue  was  the  eight-hour  day.  This  is  not  the  fact.  The 
question  at  issue  was  the  question  of  wages.  The  law  does 


68  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

not  say  that  there  shall  be  an  eight-hour  day.  It  says  that 
eight  hours  shall  "be  made  the  measure  of  a  day's  work  for 
the  purpose  of  receiving  compensation."  In  other  words, 
it  was  primarily  an  increase  of  wages  and  not  a  diminution 
of  hours  that  was  aimed  at. 

Eight-Hour  Day  the  Ideal 

I  believe  in  the  eight-hour  day.  It  is  the  ideal  toward 
which  we  should  tend.  But  I  believe  that  there  must  be 
common  sense  as  well  as  common  honesty  in  achieving  the 
ideal.  Mr.  Wilson  has  laid  down  the  principle  that  there 
is  something  sacred  about  the  eight-hour  day  which  makes 
it  improper  even  to  discuss  it.  If  this  is  so,  if  it  is  applied 
universally,  then  Mr.  Wilson  is  not  to  be  excused  for  not 
applying  it  immediately  where  he  has  complete  power,  and 
that  is  in  his  own  household.  If  the  principle  of  the  eight- 
hour  day  is  sacred  and  not  to  be  changed  under  any  cir- 
cumstances, then  the  housemaid,  who  in  Mr.  Wilson's  house, 
arises  at  seven  must  be  let  off  at  three  in  the  afternoon; 
and  if  Mr.  Wilson's  butler  is  kept  up  after  a  State  dinner 
until  ten,  he  must  not  come  on  until  two  of  the  following 
afternoon,  and  no  hired  man  on  a  farm  must  get  up  to  milk 
the  cows  in  the  morning  unless  he  quits  work  before  milk- 
ing time  arrives  that  same  evening.  Of  course,  the  simple 
truth  is  that  under  one  set  of  conditions  an  eight-hour  day 
may  be  too  long  or  at  least  may  represent  the  very  maxi- 
mum of  proper  work ;  whereas  there  may  be  other  conditions 
under  which  a  man  working  more  than  eight  hours  one  day 
gets  one  or  two  days  of  complete  leisure  following,  or  where 
the  work  is  intermittent  throughout  the  day,  or  is  of  so 
easy  or  varied  a  type  that  no  exhaustion  accompanies  it, 
or  where  a  rush  of  work  for  a  few  days  will  be  compensated 
by  complete  leisure  on  certain  other  days.  It  is  ridiculous 
to  say  that  an  engineer  of  a  high-speed  train  under  especially 
difficult  conditions,  an  engineer  of  a  low-speed  train  under 
very  much  easier  conditions,  a  farm  laborer  in  harvest  time, 
a  man  engaged  as  a  watchman  through  the  quiet  work  of 
the  night,  or  a  man  engaged  in  the  exhausting  work  of  a 
steel  puddler  in  a  continuous  seven-days-a-week,  night-and- 


The  Square  Deal  in  Industry  69 

day  industry,  should  be  governed  by  precisely  the  same  rule, 
or  by  the  same  rigid  application  in  detail  of  a  second,  general 
principle. 

Justice  Cannot  Be  Done  Without  Full  Knowledge  of  the 

Facts 

I  heartily  believe  in  a  proper  limitation  by  law  of  hours 
of  work  in  the  railroad  service,  and  I  recommended  legisla- 
tion to  that  effect  when  I  was  President.  I  believe  in  the 
wages  in  any  industry  being  just  as  high  as  it  is  possible  to 
make  them  without  injustice  to  the  capital  invested  and  to 
the  public  which  is  served.  But  it  is  a  mere  truism  to  say 
that  it  is  impossible  to  get  this  ideal  achieved  unless  an 
honest  and  dispassionate  effort  is  first  made  by  the  proper 
commission  to  ascertain  the  full  facts  in  the  particular  case. 
As  regards  the  railroads,  we  have  to  consider  the  wages  paid 
to  the  different  classes  of  employees,  the  interest  on  the 
investment,  the  earning  power  of  the  road,  and  the  kind  of 
service  that  must  be  rendered  to  the  public.  It  is  impossible 
to  secure  a  proper  solution  of  the  problem  unless  all  these 
factors  are  considered.  Mr.  Wilson  absolutely  declined  to 
consider  any  of  them.  He  declined  even  to  ask  what  they 
were.  We  have  not  at  this  moment  one  particular  of  trust- 
worthy information  which  will  enable  us  to  decide  whether 
the  demands  of  the  men  were  just  or  not.  I  wish  it  dis- 
tinctly understood  that  I  am  not  trying  to  pass  judgment 
upon  the  justice  of  the  case.  I  regard  the  engineers,  firemen 
and  enginemen  and  trainmen  generally  as  doing  peculiarly 
responsible  and  arduous  work,  and  entitled  to  particular  con- 
sideration as  regards  both  hours  of  labor  and  pay.  I  hope 
that  they  are  fully  entitled  as  a  matter  of  justice  to  what 
they  will  receive  under  the  Adamson  bill,  and  if  it  so  appears 
I  shall  heartily  support  it.  But  I  protest  against  the  far- 
reaching  evil  of  the  precedent  set  in  the  method  which  has 
been  followed.  We  are  denied  knowledge.  We  see  Congress 
forced  to  act  under  threats.  I  protest  against  any  law 
passed  under  such  duress.  I  protest  against  the  case  being 
decided  without  giving  each  party  its  day  in  court,  and  above 
all  without  giving  the  public  its  day  in  court.  I  hope  the 
demands  of  the  men  were  just,  and  would  have  been  proved 


70  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

so  to  be,  if  investigated  before  a  competent  body.  But  I  ex- 
plicitly protest  against  any  action  by  the  Government  when 
no  investigation  has  been  held  to  see  whether  the  claims  are 
or  are  not  just,  and  when  they  are  granted  through  fear  and 
not  as  a  matter  of  right. 

The  Public  Must  Pay 

Remember,  it  is  the  public  that  in  the  end  will  pay.  You 

do  not  have  to  take  my  assertion  for  this.  Take  the  asser- 
tion of  Mr.  Wilson's  master  in  this  matter.  The  Union  lead- 
ers, through  their  Chairman,  Mr.  Garretson,  announced  that 
"they  would  steadily  refuse  to  arbitrate  and  that  in  their 
action  they  were  supported  by  the  President  of  the  United 
States."  They  stated  their  case  in  a  nutshell  as  follows: 
"In  times  like  this,  men  go  back  to  primal  instinct — to  the 
day  of  the  caveman  with  this  half -gnawed  bone,  snarling  at 
the  other  caveman  who  wanted  to  take  his  bone  away.  We 
leaders  are  fighting  for  our  men.  The  railroads  are  fighting 
for  their  stockholders;  and  the  shippers  for  themselves. 
And  the  public  will  pay."  Mr.  Garretson  is  right — the 
public  will  pay.  And  it  will  pay  without  having  had  the 
chance  to  know  whether  it  ought  or  ought  not  to  pay.  Mr. 
Wilson  betrayed  the  public  when  he  refused  to  insist  that 
the  contest  should  be  decided  on  principles  of  justice,  and 
when  he  permitted  it  to  be  decided  in  deference  to  greed  and 
fear.  Mr.  Wilson  announced  that  it  was  "futile"  to  stand 
firmly  against  these  improper  demands.  It  would  not  have 
been  futile  if  a  Democrat  of  the  stamp  of  Andrew  Jackson 
or  Grover  Cleveland  had  been  President.  The  futility  in- 
hered solely  in  Mr.  Wilson  himself.  If  President  Wilson  had 
stood  by  the  honor  and  the  interests  of  the  United  States 
in  this  matter;  if  he  had  insisted  upon  a  full  investigation 
before  action;  if  he  had  insisted  upon  arbitration  and  had 
announced  that  if  there  was  any  attempt  to  tie  up  the  traffic 
of  the  United  States  he  would  use  the  entire  power  of  the 
United  States  to  keep  the  arteries  of  traffic  open,  I  would 
have  applauded  him  and  supported  him.  But,  to  take  such 
action  needed  courage.  It  needed  disinterestedness.  It  was 
necessary  that  the  man  taking  it  should  put  duty  to  the 
nation  first  and  political  and  personal  considerations  last. 


The  Square  Deal  in  Industry  71 

What  President  Wilson  did  was  to  permit  the  overriding 
of  justice  by  appeals  to  brute  force. 

He  says  that  it  would  have  been  "futile"  to  show  cour- 
age and  stand  up  for  the  right.  From  the  standpoint  of  the 
nation,  the  worst  type  of  futility  in  a  President  is  to  fail  to 
stand  up  for  the  right.  President  Wilson  felt  it  was  futile 
to  oppose  these  men,  exactly  as  President  Buchanan,  his 
spiritual  forbear,  felt  in  I860,  that  it  was  futile,  to  oppose 
secession.  That  type  of  futility  gives  the  real  measure  of 
the  man  who  practises  it.  What  Buchanan  considered  futile 
Lincoln  made  heroic. 

Mr.  Hughes  Incapable  of  Yielding  to  Threats 

I  champion  Mr.  Hughes  as  against  Mr.  Wilson  because 
in  every  such  crisis  Mr.  Wilson,  by  his  public  acts,  has 
shown  that  he  will  yield  to  fear,  that  he  will  not  yield  to 
justice;  whereas  the  public  acts  of  Mr.  Hughes  have  proved 
him  to  be  incapable  of  yielding  in  such  a  crisis  to  any  threat, 
whether  made  by  politicians,  corporations  or  labor  leaders. 

I  have  always  stood  for  the  rights  of  labor.  You  miners 
before  me  know  that.  I  stood  by  you,  and  I  incurred  the 
hostility  of  the  greatest  financial  powers  of  the  land  by  so 
doing,  and  I  have  felt  that  hostility  in  public  life  ever  since. 
But  I  did  not  care,  because  I  knew  that  my  course  was 
right.  I  stood  by  you  because  I  believed  you  were  right. 
If  I  had  been  the  type  of  man  who  was  willing  to  stand  by 
you  when  you  were  wrong,  I  would  never  have  dared  to 
stand  by  you  when  you  were  right,  against  such  opposition 
as  at  that  time  I  encountered.  I  have  stood  for  shorter 
hours  of  labor.  I  have  stood  for  a  better  wage  for  the 
laborer,  for  better  housing  conditions ;  for  giving  the  labor- 
ing wageworker  better  living  conditions  and  better  and 
safer  working  conditions.  I  have  stood  to  give  him  and  his 
wife  and  his  children  the  chance  to  make  of  themselves  all 
that  American  citizens  should  make  of  themselves.  I  have 
stood,  and  always  shall  stand,  for  everything  in  the  interest 
of  justice  for  the  laboring  man.  But  I  have  always  stood 
and  always  shall  stand,  against  yielding  anything  through 
fear  or  because  of  threats.  I  believe  in  the  great  principle  of 
arbitration.  I  believe  in  invoking  the  action  of  the  govern- 


72  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

ment  to  help  labor;  but  I  also  believe  that  to  invoke  such 
action  will  in  the  end  be  ruinous  to  labor,  as  well  as  to  the 
country,  if  it  is  not  exercised  with  wisdom  and  fearlessness 
and  in  the  spirit  of  exact  justice  to  all  the  parties  concerned. 
If  these  questions  are  not  settled  right,  then  some  time  they 
will  have  to  be  unsettled,  and  infinite  trouble  is  thereby  laid 
up  for  us  in  the  future.  The  only  way  we  can  settle  them 
right  is  by  deliberation,  after  all  the  facts  have  been  put 
before  a  disinterested  and  competent  body,  and  the  judg- 
ment of  that  body  obtained  thereon.  This  is  the  course  that 
even  now  ought  to  be  pursued  as  regards  the  Adamson  bill. 
Its  operation  has  been  deferred  until  after  Congress  assem- 
bles. Congress  should  hold  it  up  until  a  proper  commission 
shall  investigate  the  entire  subject;  and  then  the  Adamson 
bill  should  be  enacted  either  unchanged,  or  with  whatever 
changes  and  additions  the  report  of  such  dispassionate  com- 
mission may  show  to  be  desirable  and  necessary. 

Labor  leaders  who  are  shortsighted  may  at  the  moment 
get  from  a  man  in  public  office  who  is  not  actuated  by  jus- 
tice, more  than  from  a  man  who  is  actuated  by  justice.  But 
the  laboring  people  as  a  whole  cannot  afford  to  accept  such 
gains.  If  unjust  legislation  is  given  them  for  improper  rea- 
sons, then  unjust  legislation  against  them  may  be  enacted 
for  improper  reasons.  More  than  any  other  people  in  the 
country,  the  wageworkers  should  insist  on  just  and  fair 
action.  There  is  grave  reason  to  believe  that  in  the  course 
President  Wilson  has  followed  he  did  violence  to  his  own 
real  convictions.  Until  he  became  a  candidate  for  office  he 
was  a  bitter,  ungenerous  and  often  unjust  critic  of  labor 
unions.  I  have  before  me  speeches  and  letters  of  his  made 
and  written  in  1905,  1907  and  1909,  in  which  Mr.  Wilson 
says  among  other  things  that  "labor  unions  drag  the  highest 
man  down  to  the  level  of  the  lowest,"  and  in  speaking  of  the 
capitalistic  class,  he  says  that  "there  is  another  equally 
formidable  enemy  and  it  is  that  class  formed  by  the  labor 
leaders  of  this  country,"  and  again  "I  am  a  fierce  partisan 
of  the  open  shop,"  and  again  "The  usual  standard  of  the 
employee  in  our  day  is  to  give  as  little  as  he  can  for  his 
wages.  Labor  is  standardized  by  trade  unions  and  this  is 
the  standard  to  which  it  is  made  to  conform.  I  need  not 


The  Square  Deal  in  Industry  73 

point  out  how  economically  disastrous  such  regulation  of 
labor  is.  Our  economic  supremacy  may  be  lost  because  the 
country  grows  more  and  more  full  of  unprofitable  servants." 
These  were  the  utterances  of  Mr.  Wilson  when  he  was  presi- 
dent of  a  university  and  had  neither  fear  of  nor  desire  to 
profit  by  the  labor  vote.  In  Mr.  Wilson's  "History  of  the 
American  People"  he  explicitly  stated  that  the  Chinese 
ought  not  to  be  excluded  from  this  country  because  it  is  bet- 
ter to  have  them  here  than  it  is  to  have  the  immigrants  we 
now  get  from  Europe.  His  words  were:  "The  Chinese  are 
more  to  be  desired  as  workmen  than  most  of  the  coarse  crew 
that  come  crowding  in  everywhere  at  the  Eastern  ports." 
Now  he  turns  round  and  says:  "Our  gates  must  be  kept 
open"  to  those  whom  he  thus  denominated  a  "coarse  crew." 
Since  he  went  into  politics  he  has  again  and  again,  inces- 
santly and  continuously,  reversed  himself  on  what  he  had 
professed  to  be  his  deepest  convictions  prior  to  entering 
politics,  and  in  each  case  the  announced  change  of  conviction 
agreed  with  what  at  the  moment  seemed  to  be  his  political 
interest. 

If  it  is  alleged  that  President  Wilson  has  been  actuated 
only  by  principle  in  connection  with  the  Adamson  law,  then, 
I  ask,  why  has  he  failed  to  apply  the  same  principle  to  the 
railway  postal  clerks,  where  he  has  full  power  ?  Estimating 
six  days  to  the  week,  these  postal  clerks,  operating  between 
New  York  and  Pittsburgh,  are  required  to  run  205  miles  per 
day  (for  the  present  administration  has  reduced  the  number 
of  crews  from  six  to  five),  whereas  the  present  trainmen's 
agreement  requires  only  155  miles  per  day,  which  is  to  be 
reduced  still  further  by  the  Adamson  law.  The  only  pos- 
sible explanation*  of  Mr.  Wilson's  action  in  one  case  and  in- 
action in  the  other  is  that  only  400  men  are  affected  in  that 
case  where  the  government  has  full  control  of  the  hours  of 
labor,  whereas  400,000  men  are  supposed  to  be  affected  by 
the  Adamson  bill. 

The  Triumvirate  in  Control  of  Mexican  Affairs 

Mr.  Gompers  has  recently  established  himself  as  the 
especial  champion  of  Mr.  Wilson,  and  claims  joint  credit 
with  Mr.  Wilson  for  their  conduct  of  our  foreign  affairs 


74  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

so  far  as  Mexico  is  concerned.  He  asks  labor  to  support 
Mr.  Wilson  specifically  on  the  ground  of  Mr.  Wilson's  atti- 
tude in  Mexico,  which,  he  states,  he  has  helped  to  secure. 
He  says,  for  example,  that  he  was  largely  instrumental  in 
securing  the  recognition  of  Carranza  in  Mexico,  because  of 
Carranza's  sympathy  with  the  labor  movement  there.  For 
the  details  of  what  I  speak,  I  refer  you  to  Senator  Fall's  re- 
cent speeches,  where  the  exact  quotations  are  given.  Mr. 
Gompers  states  that  when  all  other  agencies  failed  in  the 
effort  to  secure  the  recognition  of  Carranza  by  President  Wil- 
son, Gompers  intervened  on  September  22nd,  1915,  and  Mr. 
Wilson's  recognition  of  Carranza  immediately  followed.  Mr. 
Gompers  continues  by  saying  that  Carranza  was  recognized 
as  the  friend  of  the  working  people  in  Mexico.  On  Septem- 
ber 2nd,  1916,  Mr.  Gompers  appealed  for  the  support  of 
laboring  men  for  Mr.  Wilson  on  the  ground  of  Mr.  Wilson's 
policy  as  regards  Mexico.  He  thus  tied  himself  up  with 
Messrs.  Wilson  and  Carranza  as  one  of  the  triumvirate  which 
exercises  supreme  control  in  Mexican  matters.  This  makes 
it  worth  while  for  the  workers  to  whom  Mr.  Gompers  espe- 
cially appeals  to  study  what  Carranza,  the  favored  friend 
and  ally  of  Messrs.  Gompers  and  Wilson,  has  done  to  labor- 
ing men  in  Mexico — not  to  speak  of  what  he  has  done  to 
Americans  in  Mexico.  Mr.  Gompers  states  that  when  Car- 
ranza refused  to  surrender  the  American  soldiers  taken 
prisoners  at  Carrizal,  in  response  to  President  Wilson's  re- 
quest, he,  Mr.  Gompers,  telegraphed  on  June  28th  last  to 
Carranza  appealing  to  him  upon  the  ground  of  "patriotism 
and  love"  for  the  release  of  the  American  soldiers ;  and  that 
immediately  Carranza  responded  on  June  29th  to  Mr.  Gomp- 
ers, saying  that  he  had  ordered  the  release  6f  the  prisoners. 
The  telegram  closed  with:  ' 'Salute,  very  affectionately,  V. 
Carranza."  Thereupon  Samuel  Gompers,  in  the  name  of 
the  Federation  of  Labor,  on  June  30th,  thanked  General 
Carranza  for  releasing  the  American  soldiers. 

No  Atonement  for  Murder  of  American  Soldiers 

I  really  question  whether  we  have  ever  in  our  history 
known  anything  as  extraordinary  as  the  President  of  the 
United  States  playing  second  fiddle  in  such  a  manner  to  the 


The  Square  Deal  in  Industry  75 

head  of  a  private  organization  when  dealing  with  interna- 
tional matters.  I  wish  to  call  your  attention  especially  to 
two  facts  in  connection  with  the  incident.  Neither  Mr.  Wil- 
son nor  Mr.  Gompers,  neither  of  the  two  amateur  diplomats 
who  thus  acted  on  a  footing  of  fraternal  equality  in  their 
joint  conduct — and  misconduct — of  American  foreign  rela- 
tions made  any  appeal  or  demand  for  atonement  for  the 
death  of  the  American  soldiers  treacherously  slain- by  Car- 
ranza's  troops.  They  did  nothing  about  the  killing  of  .Boyd 
and  Adair  and  their  troopers.  All  that  they  ventured  to  do 
was  to  ask  that  the  American  soldiers  who  had  been  taken 
prisoners  when  their  comrades  were  slain  be  returned.  That 
was  the  only  request  that  the  joint  committee  of  suppliants 
for  safety,  composed  of  President  Wilson  and  President 
Gompers,  ventured  to  demand  of  their  master,  Mr.  Car- 
ranza. 

Carranza  Orders  Strikers  Shot 

There  is  a  further  fact  which 'should  be  considered  by 
the  workingmen  who  are  asked  to  support  Carranza  by 
Messrs.  Wilson  and  Gompers  on  the  ground  that  he  is  the 
friend  of  labor.  I  have  before  me  a  copy  of  a  decree  issued 
by  Carranza  under  date  of  August  1st,  1916,  only  ten  weeks 
ago.  It  has  been  furnished  me  by  Senator  Fall.  This  decree 
was  issued  because  the  employees  of  the  electric  plant  and 
street  railroads  had  struck  for  higher  wages.  General  Car- 
ranza had  ordered  that  they  should  accept  one  peso  of  paper 
money,  that  is,  ten  cents  silver,  as  their  daily  wage.  This 
they  refused  to  do,  and  struck.  Thereupon  General  Car- 
ranza issued  a  decree;  and  remember  that  General  Car- 
ranza's  government  is  a  purely  military  government,  where 
neither  judges  nor  legislators  have  power  to  interfere  in 
any  way  with  what  is  done  by  General  Carranza  and  the  mili- 
tary authorities  who  do  his  bidding.  The  decree  runs  in 
part  as  follows :  "The  military  authorities  not  long  ago  ad- 
vised the  laboring  classes  that  they  would  not  allow  the 
creation  of  a  tyranny  so  harmful  to  the  welfare  of  the  Mexi- 
can Republic  as  the  tyranny  of  labor.  Notwithstanding  this 
the  strike  of  the  employees  of  the  electric  light  company  and 
of  others  allied  to  it  is  a  palpable  demonstration  that  the 


76  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

workmen  have  not  wished  to  be  persuaded  that  they  form 
only  a  small  part  of  society.  The  suspension  of  work  be- 
comes illegal  the  moment  that  the  strike  not  only  serves  to 
bring  pressure  on  capital,  but  also  harms  society  in  direct 
or  indirect  manner,  as  is  the  case  with  the  present  strike. 
The  conduct  of  the  labor  union  in  the  present  case  must  be 
considered  as  anti-patriotic  and  criminal,  and  constitutes 
without  .doubt  an  attack  on  the  public  peace.  In  view  of  the 
foregoing  I  have  decreed  the  following  as  an  addition  toi  the 
existing  code:  Besides  the  disturbers  of  the  public  peace, 
punishable  by  death  as  heretofore  described,  the  death  pen- 
alty will  also  be  imposed  on  the  following:  Those  who  may 
incite  the  suspension  of  work  in  factories  or  enterprises  des- 
tined to  public  service,  or  who  preside  over  meetings  in 
which  it  is  proposed  to  discuss  or  approve  such  a  strike, 
those  who  may  defend  or  sustain  the  same,  or  who  assist  in 
these  meetings,  and  those  who  endeavor  to  make  the  strike 
effective  upon  being  declared,  and  those  who  by  threats  or 
force  prevent  others  from  rendering  their  services  to  the 
companies  or  enterprises  against  which  the  strike  is  de- 
clared." In  short  words,  this  decree  is  that  inasmuch  as  Mr. 
Carranza  disapproves  of  the  strike  ordered  by  a  certain 
labor  organization,  any  one  who  strikes,  or  who  attends  a 
strikers'  meeting,  or  who  gives  assistance  or  aid  to  the 
strikers,  shall  suffer  the  death  penalty — that  is,  shall  be 
tried  by  drumhead  courtmartial  and  immediately  shot.  This 
decree  was  issued  on  August  1st  last. 

Nevertheless  Gompers  Endorses  Carranza 

Yet  Mr.  Gompers  asked  the  support  of  the  laboring  men 
of  the  United  States  for  Mr.  Wilson  on  the  ground  that  he 
is  the  sponsor  of  the  military  tyrant  who  issued  this  decree. 

It  is  now  announced  in  the  press  that  Mr.  Gompers  is  nego- 
tiating with  Mr.  Carranza  in  order  to  get  him  to  withdraw 
the  decree.  If  so  it  will  only  be  until  after  election.  But  let 
all  American  citizens  think  deeply  before  they  retain  in 
power  an  Administration  which  tolerates  such  an  inter- 
national alliance  as  that  between  Messrs.  Wilson,  Gompers 
and  Carranza,  and  such  management  of  its  foreign  affairs 


The  Square  Deal  in  Industry  77 

as  Mr.  Gompers  is  carrying  on  with  the  countenance,  and  in 
the  interest,  of  Mr.  Wilson. 

Protective  Tariff  Indispensable 

The  welfare  of  the  laboring  man  and  the  welfare  of  the 
farmer  taken  together  represent  the  foundation  of  the  na- 
tional welfare.  I  have  always  conscientiously  endeavored 
to  do  everything  in  my  power  for  the  wageworker  who 
worked  with  his  hands  and  for  the  farmer.  I  will  do  every- 
thing that  in  me  lies  for  their  permanent  good,  except  any- 
thing that  is  wrong,  and  that  I  will  do  for  no  man.  I  speak 
out  of  my  deepest  convictions  and  as  conscientiously  as  it 
is  in  my  power  to  speak  when  I  say  to  you  that  I  believe  that 
Mr.  Wilson's  action  in  connection  with  the  Adamson  bill  is 
deeply  prejudical  to  the  real  and  permanent  interests  of  the 
laboring  man.  I  say  to  you  with  deepest  conviction  that  if 
you  yourself  will  look  back  you  will  find  that  on  the  average, 
the  wageworker  has  prospered  more  when  this  country  has 
been  under  a  protective  tariff  than  when  the  protective  tariff 
has  been  so  low  as  not  to  give  protection  to  our  immense 
and  varied  industries ;  and  above  all,  to  the  men  working  in 
those  industries.  As  you  know,  I  have  always  stood  for  the 
tariff  only  to  the  degree  in  which  the  benefit  was  reasonably 
shared  between  the  men  in  the  front  office  and  the  men  who 
receive  the  pay  envelopes.  I  stand  for  that  division  now. 
But  there  must  be  something  to  divide,  or  nobody  will  get 
anything. 

The  Democratic  Deficiency  Tax 

I  ask  you  to  look  back  only  two  short  years.  Mr.  Wil- 
son was  inaugurated  as  President  three  years  ago  last 
Spring.  He  and  his  party  immediately  passed  a  low  tariff 
law.  Under  it  Government  receipts  fell  off  so  alarminglv 
that  there  was  a  great  deficit  which  had  to  be  met  by 
a  special  tax.  This  was  later  called  a  war  tax;  but  it  was 
not  due  to  the  war  at  all ;  the  decrease  in  receipts  was  prior 
to  the  war,  it  was  a  deficiency  tax,  pure  and  simple.  As 
some  one  pointed  out  at  the  time,  Canada  had  a  war  with 
no  tax ;  whereas  we  had  a  tax  with  no  war.  It  was  purely  a 
deficiency  tax. 


78  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

Widespread  Misery  Due  to  Democratic  Action 

During  the  first  eighteen  months  of  this  Administration 
the  national  business  went  to  pieces,  the  sidings  of  the  rail- 
roads were  jammed  with  empty  cars,  and  the  number  of 
unemployed  in  every  great  industry  grew  to  appalling  di- 
mensions. I  speak  here  of  what  I  personally  know;  for  less 
than  two  years  ago  I  had  to  take  an  active  part  in  New 
York  in  measures  to  relieve  the  unemployed.  I  then  saw 
municipal  lodging  houses  crowded  to  overflowing  with  peo- 
ple desirous  of  working,  who  could  not  get  any  work,  and 
who  did  not  have  enough  money  to  pay  for  the  poorest 
lodging  or  the  cheapest  meals.  The  unemployed  were  num- 
bered not  by  the  thousands,  but  by  the  scores  of  thousands ; 
and  I  was  in  active  correspondence  with  men  and  women 
in  other  cities,  Chicago,  Detroit  and  Philadelphia,  where  the 
conditions  were  just  as  bad  as  in  New  York.  Every  kind 
of  provision  had  to  be  made,  by  private  charities  and  by  the 
public  authorities,  in  order  to  care  for  the  multitude  of  peo- 
ple who  wished  to  work  but  who  were  in  dire  want  because 
there  was  no  work.  The  misery  was  widespread.  For  in- 
stance, the  Board  of  Health  of  New  York  had  to  pass  a  spe- 
cial resolution  allowing  the  eating  of  horse  meat  (I  think 
the  exact  phraseology  gave  permission  to  fatten  old  horses 
for  slaughter  and  food),  because  every  effort  had  to  be 
made  to  give  to  those  out  of  work  the  cheapest  food  that 
would  sustain  life.  Remember  that  those  times  were  nor- 
mal. There  was  then  no  war.  We  were  at  peace.  We  were 
simply  experiencing  the  normal  results  of  legislative  action 
under  Mr.  Wilson  and  the  Democratic  Administration. 

Artificial  Stimulus  Due  to  War 

The  suffering  was  widespread  throughout  this  country. 
Suddenly  the  war  came.  At  one  stroke  this  country  was 
granted  a  measure  of  protection  greater  than  any  it  had  ever 
received  under  any  tariff  in  its  history.  Moreover,  the  de- 
mand for  munitions  of  war  was  stimulated  to  such  an  enor- 
mous degree  as  to  completely  reverse  trade  conditions.  For 
example,  comparing  the  fiscal  years  ending  June  30,  1914, 
and  June  30,  1916,  that  is,  the  year  before  the  war  and  the 
year  that  has  just  elapsed,  the  losses  in  ordinary  exports 


The  Square  Deal  in  Industry  79 

during  the  last  year,  compared  to  the  former,  were  over  two 
hundred  million  dollars ;  whereas  there  was  a  gain  in  exports 
of  war  material  of  nearly  two  billion  dollars.  If  it  were  not 
for  these  artificial  conditions,  the  suffering  from  unemploy- 
ment in  this  country  at  this  time  would  in  all  probability 
be  as  great  as  it  was  in  1914,  and  we  would  have  seen  two 
or  three  years  of  an  industrial  crisis  at  least  as  bad  as  any 
we  have  ever  known  in  our  history.  The  present  stimulus  is 
artificial.  It  will  cease  with  the  war  conditions  coming  to  an 
end.  It  will  then  be  difficult  to  avoid  some  suffering  any- 
how. If  Mr.  Wilson  is  kept  in  office,  this  suffering  will 
doubtless  be  prolonged  and  acute. 

"If  You  Will  Steal  For  Me,  You  Will  Steal  From  Me" 

In  short,  you  miners  of  Pennsylvania,  I  appeal  to  you, 
and  I  appeal  to  all  wageworkers  of  the  United  States,  both 
in  the  name  of  sound  American  citizenship,  and  also  in  the 
name  of  your  real  and  permanent  self-interest.  No  Amer- 
ican citizen  can  afford  to  put  the  stamp  of  his  approval  on 
any  law  supposed  to  be  passed  for  the  benefit  of  anybody 
without  investigation,  under  duress  of  threats  or  for  fear 
of  the  loss  of  political  power.  I  ask  any  men  who  are 
tempted  to  approve  of  the  politician,  big  or  little,  whom 
they  think  has  helped  them  by  doing  wrong  in  their  interest, 
to  remember  that  the  man  who  for  his  profit  does  wrong  in 
your  interest  will  just  as  unhesitatingly  do  wrong  against 
your  interest,  if  ever  he  thinks  it  to  his  profit  to  do  so. 

In  the  old  days,  thirty  years  ago,  when  I  lived  on  a  cow 
ranch  in  the  short  grass  country,  the  branding  iron  and  the 
cowboy  took  the  place  of  fences,  and  our  herds  were  man- 
aged by  branding  each  calf  with  the  brand  of  the  cow  it  fol- 
lowed. If  the  calf  was  not  branded  the  first  year,  then  the 
next  year  when  it  was  an  unbranded  yearling,  it  was  called 
a  maverick.  By  range  law  we  were  supposed  to  brand  each 
maverick  with  the  brand  of  the  ranch  on  which  it  was  found. 
One  day  I  was  riding  across  a  neighbor's  ranch  with  a 
puncher  I  had  just  hired,  and  we  came  across  a  maverick. 
We  got  down  our  ropes,  threw  the  maverick,  and  built  a  lit- 
tle fire  of  sagebrush  to  heat  one  of  the  cinch  rings ;  and  the 
puncher  started  to  run  on  the  brand.  I  said,  "Put  on 


80    .  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

the  thistle  brand" — the  brand  of  the  range  we  were  on.  He 
answered,  "All  right,  boss,  I  know  my  business";  and  in 
another  minute  he  had  put  on  my  brand,  remarking,  "I 
always  put  on  the  boss's  brand."  I  answered,  "Well — go 
back  to  the  ranch  and  get  your  time."  He  jumped  up  and 
said,  "What's  that  for?  I  was  putting  on  your  brand,  wasn't 
I?"  I  answered,  "Yes,  my  friend,  you  were  putting  on  my 
brand,  and  if  you  will  steal. for  me  you  will  steal  from  me!" 
This  is  a  good  rule  to  remember,  for  laboring  men, 
farmers,  professional  men,  business  men,  for  all  citizens  of 
the  United  States,  in  dealing  with  their  public  servants.  If 
a  public  servant  will  do  wrong  to  please  any  particular  class, 
it  may  be  taken  as  absolutely  certain  that  he  will  do  wrong 
against  the  interest  of  that  particular  class  whenever  it 
becomes  to  his  own  profit  to  do  so. 


NATIONAL    RIGHTS    AND    INTERNATIONAL 

DUTY 

Louisville,  Kentucky,  October  18,  1916 


AT  the  outset  of  my  speech  I  wish  to  point  out,  as  I  have 
elsewhere  pointed  out,  that  the  doctrine  now  often  ad- 
vanced as  to  the  impropriety  of  criticising  the  President, 
without  any  regard  as  to  whether  the  criticism  is  or  is  not 
just,  has  no  warrant  either  in  history  or  on  grounds  of  pub- 
lic morality.  Andrew  Jackson  in  a  message  to  the  Senate  on 
April  15th,  1834,  put  the  case  exactly  as  it  should  be  put. 
He  said : 

"The  President  is  accountable  at  the  bar  of 
public  opinion  for  every  act  of  his  administra- 
tion. Subject  only  to  the  restraints  of  truth  and 
justice,  the  free  people  of  the  United  States  have 
the  undoubted  right,  as  individuals,  or  collectively, 
orally  or  in  writing,  at  such  times  and  in  such 
language  and  form  as  they  may  think  proper,  to 
discuss  his  official  conduct  and  express  and  pro- 
mulgate their  opinions  concerning  it." 

This  lays  down  the  law  that  should  be  followed.  There 
must  be  truth  and  justice  in  all  that  is  said  of  the  Presi- 
dent, or  of  any  one  else ;  but  less  than  any  one  other  man  in 
the  nation  has  he  the  right  to  claim  immunity  from  any 
criticism  that  is  both  just  and  truthful.  I  criticise  President 
Wilson  because  his  deeds  have  belied  his-  words,  and  his 
words  have  belied  one  another. 

Mr.  Wilson's  Promises  Broken 

Mr.  Wilson's  promises  before  election,  both  those  made 
in  his  own  speeches,  and  those  made  in  the  platform,  have 
been  so  well-nigh  invariably  broken,  that  the  breaking  of 
them  has  become  a  subject  for  jest  even  among  his  own 

81 


82  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

friends.  One  of  Mr.  Wilson's  prominent  Democratic  sup- 
porters in  Congress  stated  with  refreshing  frankness  the 
exact  truth  about  Mr.  Wilson's  pre-election  promises,  and 
those  made  on  his  behalf,  when  in  answer  to  some  charge  of 
inconsistency,  he  responded  by  saying  that  "Our  platform 
was  made  to  get  into  office  on — and  we  have  won."  You 
will  find  this  remark  on  page  4618  of  the  Congressional 
Record,  the  Third  Session  of  the  62nd  Congress.  It  is  im- 
possible to  study  Mr.  Wilson's  pre-election  promises  and 
post-election  performances;  it  is  impossible  to  compare  the 
diametrically  opposed  attitudes  he  has  assumed  at  different 
times  on  almost  eve*y  public  question;  it  is  impossible  to 
compare  what  he  says  in  one  set  of  speeches  with  what  he 
says  in  another  set,  without  feeling  that  what  this  congres- 
sional supporter  of  his  said  of  his  platform  applies  also  to 
his  speeches. 

Now,  I  do  not  regard  such  action  on  the  part  of  Mr. 
Wilson  and  his  followers,  and  the  cynical  frankness  with 
which  they  avow  it,  as  a  matter  for  jest.  I  doubt  if  it  is  pos- 
sible more  effectively  to  undermine  public  morality  in  this 
country  than  by  accustoming  the  people  to  regard  promises 
made  in  politics  with  cynical  amusement  as  intended  only 
for  purposes  of  deception.  A  high-minded  man  regards  a 
promise  made  on  the  stump  by  a  candidate  for  office,  a 
promise  intended  to  secure  the  support  of  those  to  whom 
it  is  made,  as  a  pledge  which  it  is  as  imperatively  necessary 
to  redeem  as  if  it  were  made  in  private  life  to  a  private  in- 
dividual; and  its  subsequent  repudiation  in  one  case  can 
only  be  justified  by  conditions  substantially  like  those  which 
would  justify  it  in  the  other  case.  An  honorable  man  will 
scorn  an  untruth  on  the  stump  just  as  much  as  off  the 
stump.  An  honorable  man  will  break  a  promise  made  pub- 
licly in  a  political  campaign  just  as  reluctantly  as  he  will 
break  a  promise  made  to  another  man  in  private  life.  An 
honorable  man  keeps  faith  in  public  life  no  less  than  in  pri- 
vate life. 

Mr.  Wilson's  Speeches 

President  Wilson's  speeches  are  models  of  adroit,  in- 
direct suggestion  and  avoidance  of  downright  statement. 
But  the  other  day  at  Omaha  he  seems  to  have  committed 


National  Rights  and  International  Duty  83 

himself  to  the  statement  that  he  was  "willing  to  fight/'  but 
was  "waiting  for  something  worth  fighting  for,"  for  some- 
thing which  would  "put  all  the  corpuscles  of  his  blood  into 
shouting  shape."  It  would  be  interesting  to  know  exactly 
what  outrage  on  American  citizens,  or  on  the  rights  of  hu- 
manity anywrhere,  which  would  make  him  cross  the  line  be- 
tween being  "willing  to  fight"  and  "too  proud  to  fight."  He 
certainly  did  not  regard  the  treacherous  murder  of  Boyd  and 
Adair,  and  this  United  States,  as  "something  worth  fighting 
for."  He  -did  not  even  write  a  note  about  it.  The  murder 
of  1394  men,  w,omen  and  children  on  the  Lusitania  did  not 
"put  all  the  corpuscles  of  his  blood  into  shouting  shape." 
His  corpuscles  did  not  shout;  they  did  not  even  whisper; 
apparently  all  they  did  was  to  suggest  to  him  that  it  was  a 
happy  occasion  for  his  classic  remark  about  being  "too  proud 
to  fight."  I  am  tempted  to  think  that  Mr.  Wilson  did  himself 
an  injustice  when  he  said  that  he  was  "willing  to  fight" 
either  for  any  great  cause  or  on  account  of  any  wrong  here- 
after done  to  this  country ;  and  that  the  truth  was  expressed 
the  other  day  by  his  eager  eulogist,  Secretary  Baker,  when 
he  said  that  he  was  "glad"  that  "no  one  could  insult  Mr. 
Wilson  and  make  him  go  to  war."  Unquestionably  General 
Carranza,  and  probably  Herr  von  Tirpitz,  heartily  agree 
with  Secretary  Baker — and  deep  in  his  own  heart  I  am 
inclined  to  believe  that  Mr.  Wilson  himself  also  agrees  with 
him. 

Preaching  Degrading  Doctrine 

Two  of  Mr.  Wilson's  most  distinguished  champions,  one 
official  and  one  non-official,  take  the  same  view.  Secretary 
Lane  stated  that  the  fact  that  "American  citizens  have  been 
killed  by  outlaws  and  bandits"  was  a  proper  subject  for 
"much  regret"  but  not  for  "sacrificing  the  blood  of  our 
sons."  Does  he  think  that  a  woeful  allusion  of  "regret" 
is  the  way  to  move  bandits?  Dr.  Charles  W.  Eliot,  former 
President  of  Harvard,  praises  Mr.  Wilson  for  having  made 
a  "great  contribution  to  the  peace  of  the  world  and  to  the 
promotion  of  humane  and  just  dealings  between  nations," 
by  having  "gone  far  to  establish  as  the  American  policy 
the  policy  of  non-intervention  by  force  of  arms  for  the 
protection  of  miners,  commercial  adventurers,  investors  and 


84  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

workmen  in  foreign  parts,"  and  by  having  refused  to  adopt 
the  "malign  suggestion"  to  protect  the  lives  of  these  men  "by 
punitive  expeditions  and  compelled  agreements."  Reduced 
to  concrete  terms,  this  statement  of  Dr.  Eliot  is  that  Presi- 
dent Wilson  is  greatly  to  be  praised  because  he  took  no  ac- 
tion when  some  nineteen  fine,  unoffending,  hard-working  and 
totally  unarmed  American  miners,  and  engineers,  were 
taken  from  a  railroad  train,  tortured  and  murdered  by  an 
armed  Mexican  force.  Dr.  Eliot  has  been  a  severe  censor 
of  political  morals,  strong  in  his  condemnation  of  bosses, 
crooked  politicians,  and  demagogic  labor  leaders;  but  no 
corrupt  boss,  no  crooked  politician  or  labor  leader,  no  con- 
scienceless capitalist,  has  ever  preached  or  practised  a  more 
degrading  doctrine,  a  doctrine  more  ruinous  to  the  soul  and 
the  manhood  of  this  nation,  or  more  destructive  to  human- 
ity and  justice  in  the  world  at  large,  than  the  doctrine 
thus  set  forth  by  this  former  College  President.  There 
can  be  no  more  severe  condemnation  of  Mr.  Wilson  than 
to  say  that  he  is  not  unworthy  of  such  praise.  American 
women  are  raped  and  American  children  murdered  in  Mex- 
ico; American  men  are  tortured  to  death;  hundreds  of  our 
people  are  slain;  continual  forays  are  made  into  our  own 
territory;  Mexico  itself  is  utterly  devastated  and  its  people 
slaughtered  by  the  hundred  thousand;  and  Dr.  Eliot  de- 
nounces as  a  "malign  suggestion"  any  proposal  to  put  a 
stop  to  these  horrors  in  the  only  way  by  which  it  is  pos- 
sible to  stop  them.  It  would  be  unfair  to  China  to  compare 
Dr.  Eliot  with  even  an  old-school  Chinese  statesman.  If 
he  really  represents  the  American  people,  then  let  us  by  all 
means  abandon  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  and  preparedness,  and 
patriotism  and  every  form  of  manliness,  national  and  indi- 
vidual; let  us  leave  Mexico  to  be  set  straight  by  Germany 
or  England  or  Japan;  and  let  us  sit  in  helpless  folly  at 
home  until  some  virile  nation  makes  us  what  we  would 
under  such  conditions  deserve  to  be  made — the  hewers  of 
wood  and  drawers  of  water  for  alien  conquerors.  But 
if  we  Americans  are  fit  sons  of  our  sires,  if  we  are  worthy 
of  our  forefathers  of  the  days  of  Washington,  if  we  are 
entitled  to  claim  kinship  with  the  valiant  souls  who  wore 
the  blue  in  the  armies  of  Grant  or  the  gray  in  the  armies 


National  Rights  and  International  Duty  85 

of  Lee,  let  us  treat  such  counsel  with  the  derision  it  deserves, 
and  view  with  deep  suspicion  the  President  who  has  earned 
such  support. 

Not  Too  Proud  to  Fight  Small  Nations 

There  was  probably  no  American  outside  his  own  im- 
mediate following  more  anxious  to  see  Mr.  Wilson  succeed, 
and  more  disappointed  when  he  failed,  than  I  was.  I  criticize 
him  only  because  my  duty  as  an  American  citizen,  proud 
of  his  country  and  jealous  of  her  honor,  forces  me  to  stand 
against  him.  Apparently  the  chief  claim  advanced  for 
Mr.  Wilson  now  is  that  he  has  "kept  us  out  of  war."  Mr. 
Wilson  himself  said  in  effect  'the  other  day  that  if  he  was 
not  elected  we  would  have  war.  Yet  Mr.  Wilson,  through 
the  Democratic  platform,  announces  that  "the  Mexicans 
have  made  war  upon  us,  and  have  murdered  our  citizens." 
Apparently  Mr.  Wilson  does  not  mind  the  Mexicans  being 
at  war  with  us,  as  long  as  we  are  not  at  war  with  the 
Mexicans.  Mr.  Wilson's  conception  of  war  painfully  re- 
sembles that  described  by  Mr.  Stephen  Leacock  in  his  anec- 
dote of  how  Mr.  Smith  took  Mr.  Tompkins  by  the  coat  col- 
lar from  behind  and  began  kicking  him  vigorously,  "and 
the  fight  continued  in  this  manner  for  several  minutes." 
The  war  out  of  which  Mr.  Wilson  has  not  kept  us  with 
Mexico  has  been  waged  in  precisely  this  manner;  and  Mr. 
Wilson's  attitude  has  been  precisely  as  dignified  as  that  of 
the  mishandled  hero  of  Leacock's  anecdote.  And  the  great 
military  nations  of  the  old  world  have  treated  Mr.  Wilson, 
and  through  Mr.  Wilson  have  treated  Uncle  Sam,  in  similar 
fashion.  However,  in  one  case  Mr.  Wilson  asserted  him- 
self. Hayti  had  not  behaved  towards  us  one  hundredth  part 
as  badly  as  Mexico,  nor  one-tenth  as  badly  as  Germany; 
but  Hayti  had  neither  army  nor  navy,  Hayti  did  not  even 
have  arms  and  ammunition,  and  therefore  President  Wil- 
son was  not  too  proud  to  fight  Hayti.  He  has  taught  the 
world  that  no  nation  which  is  small  enough  to  be  helpless 
can  insult  us  with  impunity.  Are  you  proud  of  the  record, 
you  Americans  of  Kentucky,  you  whose  fathers  were  once 
not  too  proud  to  fight?  Mr.  Wilson  has  "kept  us  out  of 
war"  forsooth!  Why,  on  our  eastern  coast  war  now  grins 


86  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

at  us  from  just  outside  the  three-mile  limit,  and  on  our 
southern  border  war  has,  been  waged  on  us  within  our  own 
territory  again  and  again  by  bands  of  armed  invaders  dur- 
ing the  last  three  years. 

In  his  great  book  on  international  law,  Vattel  defines 
war  as  "the  effort  to  assert  rights  by  violence."  The 
Mexicans,  during  Mr.  Wilson's  term,  have  killed  more 
Americans  than  the  Spaniards  killed  in  the  Spanish  War. 
We  have  now  gathered  on  the  Mexican  border,  and  have 
kept  there  for  three  months,  a  far  larger  army  than  the  com- 
bined armies  that  took  Cuba  and  the  Philippines  from  the 
Spaniards — and  I  throw  in  all  the.  men  on  the  American 
squadrons.  There  are  down  oil  the  Mexican  border  at  pres- 
ent more  than  ten  times  as  many  men  as  were  in  Mexico 
under  Scott  and  Taylor  combined  in  our  war  with  Mexico. 
We  have  had  all  the  bloodshed  and  expense  of  wrar,  but 
we  have  not  secured  what  follows  a  wise,  righteous  and 
manful  war — peace. 

The  exact  value  of  the  Mexican  "good  will"  which 
President  Wilson  has  obtained  by  his  policy  of  tame  sub- 
mission to  the  murder  and  outrage  of  our  citizens  can  be 
gathered  from  the  following  statement  in  one  of  his  chief 
newspaper  organs,  the  New  York  World,  of  Oct.  10th : 

"CARRANZA  ENVOYS  IN  FIRMER  ATTITUDE 


"U-Boat  Exploits  Give  Them  Hope  That  We  Shall  Have 
More  Complications. 

(From  a  Staff  Correspondent  of  the  World) 

"ATLANTIC  CITY,  N.  J.,  Oct.  9. — The  activities  of  Ger- 
man submarines  off  the  American  coast  and  the  possibility 
that  another  crisis  may  arise  between  the  United  States 
and  Germany  had  an  appreciable  effect  upon  the  Mexican 
conference  here  today. 

"The  Carranza  delegates  were  elated  at  the  prospect 
of  this  country  being  involved  in  further  international  en- 
tanglements, and  their  attitude  stiffened  considerably." 

This  statement  is  well  worth  serious  consideration. 
It  comes  from  one  of  President  Wilson's  close  organs.  It 


National  Rights  and  International  Duty  87 

shows  that  the  Carranza  Government,  which  owes  its  very 
existence  to  President  Wilson,  eagerly  awaits  the  opportu- 
nity to  join  with  any  hostile  old-world  power  against  us. 
This  is  the  fine  flower  of  President  Wilson's  policy  in  Mex- 
ico. He  has  permitted  the  country  to  be  ruined  and  its 
people  decimated.  He  has  permitted  our  own  people  to  be 
murdered  unchecked.  He  has  prostituted  our  national  honor 
to  the  bandits  whose  cause  he  has  espoused.  And  he  has 
won  from  these  bandits  only  a  venomous  and  treacherous 
hostility  to  the  United  States. 

Our  Citizens  Abandoned 

For  three  years  there  has  been  no  protection  of  our 
citizens  abroad.  The  rights  of  a  citizen  of  the  United  States 
to  demand  the  protection  of  his  Government  when  wronged 
by  a  foreign  power  have  been  settled  by  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States,  when  it  said  (83  U.  S.,  p.  79)  :  "It  is  the 
privilege  of  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  to  demand  the 
care  and  protection  of  the  Federal  Government  over  his 
life,  liberty  and  property  when  on  the  high  seas  or  within 
the  jurisdiction  of  a  foreign  government."  This  applied 
to  our  citizens  on  the  Lusitania  and  the  Arabic  who  lost 
their  lives  from  German  submarines.  It  applied  to  our 
citizens  in  Mexico  and  Chihuahua,  who  lost  their  lives  at 
the  hands  of  the  Mexican  soldiers  of  Carranza.  It  applied 
to  the  Americans  whose  property  was  taken  in  violation  of 
the  principles  of  international  law  by  the  English  fleet. 
The  right  to  life  comes  ahead  of  the  right  of  property,  and 
unless  we  first  deal  with  the  offenses  against  the  lives  of 
our  citizens,  we  have  no  justification  for  dealing  with  of- 
fenses against  the  property  rights  of  our  citizens.  But  if 
we  had  done  our  duty  in  the  first  case,  it  would  then  have 
become  incumbent  upon  us  to  do  our  duty  in  the  latter  case. 
At  this  moment  our  first  duty  should  be  to  see  that  Ameri- 
can citizens,  especially  women  and  children,  shall  not  be 
set  afloat  in  rowboats  miles  off  our  coast  on  the  October 
seas,  as  a  result  of  submarine  attacks  on  merchant  vessels. 
The  German  U-boats  in  effect  established  a  "pacific"  block- 
ade of  our  coast.  The  "guarantee"  of  the  safety  of  non- 
combatants  aboard  the  vessels  recently  torpedoed  off  our 


88  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

coast  was  carried  out  by  American  destroyers,  not  by  the 
German  submarines;  if  the  Germans  had  themselves  made 
good,  and  intended  to  make  good,  their  guarantee,  there 
would  have  been  no  necessity  for  American  destroyers  to 
be  present. 

The  Course  of  Dishonor  Followed 

At  the  outset  of  this  war  Mr.  Wilson  had  one  of  two 
courses  to  follow.  He  could  by  deeds  stand  up  for  our 
own  rights  against  everyone,  and  champion  the  rights  of 
the  weak  against  the  strong  in  all  cases ;  or  else  he  could  sub- 
mit to  our  being  wronged  by  everyone,  and  acquiesce  tamely 
when  wrongs  were  committed  by  the  strong  against  the 
weak,  even  although  we  had  covenanted  that  such  wrongs 
should  not  be  committed.  The  first  was  the  course  of  honor, 
of  temporary  risk  and  of  permanent  safety.  He  did  not 
follow  it.  The  second  was  the  course  of  dishonor,  of  tem- 
porary safety  and  of  permanent  danger.  He  followed  it. 
As  to  the  course  we  ought  to  have  followed,  it  is  to  be 
found  laid  down  in  his  own  utterances,  and  in  the  platform 
of  his  own  party.  He  has  himself  specifically  stated,  and 
in  the  party  platform  the  statement  was  reiterated,  that 
"We  hold  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  United  States  to  use 
its  power  ...  in  the  interests  of  humanity  to  assist 
the  world  in  securing  justice.  We  believe  that  the  small 
states  of  the  world  have  the  right  to  enjoy  from  other 
nations  the  same  respect  for  their  sovereignty  and  terri- 
torial integrity  that  the  great  powers  insist  upon.  We 
again  declare  fully  the  policy  that  the  sacred  rights  of 
American  citizenship  must  be  preserved  at  home  and 
abroad."  I  ask  all  decent  men,  all  right-thinking  men  of 
straightforward  minds,  whether  there  ever  has  been  ranker 
hypocrisy  than  the  use  of  such  expression  by  the  man,  and 
the  men,  who,  when  the  conditions  they  thus  set  forth  were 
met  to  a  dot,  to  a  line,  in  the  case  of  the  killing  of  our 
men,  women  and  children  on  the  high  seas  and  in  Mexico, 
and  in  the  case  of  the  invasion  of  Belgium  by  Germany, 
instantly  forgot  their  duty  to  America,  to  humanity  and 
justice,  and  took  no  action  to  back  up  their  high-sounding 
words?  President  Wilson  has  seen  the  lives  of  some  five 


National  Rights  and  International  Duty  89 

• 

hundred  Americans  taken,  afloat  and  ashore;  but  never  in 
one  case  has  he  made  good  the  promise  of  his  platform. 
As  soon  as  Belgium  was  invaded  Mr.  Wilson  instantly  for- 
got his  "concern"  for  the  "rights  and  sovereignty  of  small 
states,"  and  announced  that  we  must  be  neutral  not  only  in 
deed,  but  in  thought,  between  right  and  wrong,  and  that 
we  had  no  concern  with  the  European  war,  and  that  the 
combatants  (including  the  Belgians,  who  were  fighting  for 
their  wives,  children  and  hearthstones)  were  all  merely 
"-madmen."  Out  of  their  own  mouths  President  Wilson 
and  his  party  supporters  stand  condemned  for  their  action 
and  their  inaction. 

Our  Rights  Abandoned 

This  case  of  Belgium  was  the  first  of  Mr.  Wilson's  in- 
ternational sins.  It  combined  lofty  promise  and  complete 
failure  in  performance.  It  consisted  of  words  which  were 
nullified  by  deeds.  In  these  respects  he  made  it  the  pre- 
cedent which  he  followed  ever  afterwards.  He  followed  it 
when  he  wrote  his  "strict  accountability"  note  to  Germany 
and  then  for  a  year  held  Germany  to  no  accountability, 
either  strict  or  loose,  while  it  sunk  ship  after  ship  with 
thousands  of  non-combatants,  including  hundreds  of  Ameri- 
cans; and  no  atonement  has  been  made  for  the  lives  thus 
lost  to  this  day.  When  he  dealt  with  our  property  rights, 
he  announced  to  England  that  the  United  States  intended 
fearlessly  to  accept  the  "championship"  of  neutral  rights. 
But,  as  in  the  case  of  his  note  to  Germany,  he  did  nothing 
to  back  up  his  words.  They  were  words  and  nothing  else. 
He  said  he  would  hold  Mexico  to  a  "strict  responsibility," 
and  he  did  not  hold  her  to  any  responsibility.  He  said  he 
would  hold  Germany  to  "strict  accountability,"  and  he  did 
not  hold  her  to  any  accountability.  He  said  that  the  Eng- 
lish blockade  was  illegal,  ineffective,  and  indefensible; 
and .  he  neither  made  his  words  good  nor  acted  on  them. 
He  announced  that  he  would  insist  on  all  our  rights;  and 
then  he  abandoned  them  all.  He  wrote  strong  notes,  to 
both  sides;  and  he  took  no  action  to  back  up  the  notes  to 
either  side.  We  accomplished  nothing  with  either  side. 
We  incurred  resentment  from  both  sides.  In  just  one 


90  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

• 

respect  we  have  succeeded.  We  have  induced  the  belliger- 
ents to  agree  on  one  point.  They  agree  in  their  utter  con- 
tempt for  America,  in  their  conviction  -that  the  American 
people  cannot  be  goaded  into  virile  action  to  defend  the  lives 
of  their  men,  women  and  children,  and  in  their  certainty 
that  we  are  actuated  only  by  the  desire  to  profit  by  the 
agonies  of  our  European  brothers. 

No  Real  Leadership  in  Washington 

Instead  of  speaking  softly  and  carrying  a  big  stick, 
President  Wilson  spoke  bombastically  and  carried  a  dish- 
rag.  For  these  offenses  against  us  I  blame  the  Germans, 
for  nothing  can  excuse  their  jeopardizing  and  taking  the 
lives  of  men,  women  and  children ;  and  I  do  not  believe  that 
under  like  circumstances  we  would  have  done  what  they 
have  done.  For  their  less  heinous  offenses  against  our 
property  rights  I  blame  the  British,  but  I  blame  them  much 
less,  and  ^  do  believe  that  under  like  circumstances  we 
would  have  acted  in  the  same  way,  if  other  nations  would 
have  let  us.  But  I  blame  the  United  States  ,even  more  than 
I  blame  Germany,  and  far  more  than  I  blame  England,  for 
in  our  case  there  has  been  no  splendid  alloy  of  heroism  to 
offset  the  wrong-doing.  Our  offenses  have  been  those  of 
cold,  shortsighted  selfishness  and  of  a  mean  timidity  which 
has  invited,  and  has  therefore  been  partly  responsible  f.or, 
the  German  and  British  offenses  against  us.  We  could  have 
stopped  them  had  we  had  any  real  leadership  in  Washing- 
ton ;  had  we  shown  any  firmness  of  soul  and  readiness  to 
make  effort  and  encounter  risk  for  high  ideals.  "Kept  us 
out  of  war!"  If  the  Wilson  administration  could  point  to 
one  sacrifice  this  nation  has  made  for  the  right,  to  one 
indication  of  willingness  to  face  loss  on  behalf  of  a  princi- 
ple, it  might  deserve  some  credit.  But  it  deserves  none. 
Thanks  to  President  Wilson,  we  have  shown  ourselves  too 
craven  to  stand  up  for  our  own  rights,  or  for  the  rights 
of  weaker  peoples.  If  we  had  done  as  we  ought  to  havp 
done,  our  neutrality  would  have  been  a  badge  of  honor 
and  not  one  of  shame.  If  we  had  shown  emphatically  that 
we  intended  to  give  a  square  deal  to  everyone,  and  to  de- 
mand a  square  deal  for  and  from  everyone;  if  we  had  done 


National  Rights  and  International  Duty  §1 

for  Mexico  what  under  President  McKinley  we  did  for 
Cuba ;  if  we  had  protested  against  the  invasion  of  Belgium ; 
if  we  had  summarily  stopped  the  murder  of  our  men,  wo- 
men and  children  by  German  submarines,  and  had  then 
effectively  asserted  the  freedom  of  the  seas  against  the 
British,  we  would  certainly  have  brought  about  the  recog- 
nition of  our  rights,  and  very  possibly  would  have  inspired 
sufficient  confidence  and  respect  in  the  belligerents  to  have 
enabled  us  to  secure  peace  before  this  time.  Had  we  so 
acted,  we  would  have  proved  ourselves  loyal  Americans  in 
the  first  place,  and  in  the  next  place  we  would  have  shown 
a  veritable,  instead  of  a  sham,  loyalty  to  humanity.  We 
would  have  proved  that  our  devotion  to  humanity  was  more 
then  mere  lip  worship.  But  let  it  be  understood  from  the 
beginning  that  never  can  we  or  any  other  nation  take  such 
a  position  unless  there  is  both  preparation  in  advance,  and 
also  the  willingness  to  sacrifice  something  in  order  to  com- 
pel the  observance  of  the  nation's  own  sovereign  rights, 
and  in  addition  to  enable  it  to  perform  its  duty  to  the  rest 
of  mankind. 


THE  MEXICAN  INIQUITY 
Phoenix,  Arizona,  October  21,  1916 


WHAT  has  happened  to  our  people  in  Mexico  and  here 
along  the  border,  offers  the  clearest  possible  illustra- 
tion of  what  happens  to  any  nation  whose  government  be- 
haves with  the  vacillation  and  timidity  shown  by  Mr.  Wilson 
in  our  f orejgn  affairs  wherever  he  has  had  to  deal  with  any 
foe  of  whom  he  wras  in  the  slightest  degree  afraid. 

In  Mexico  when  the  Revolution  gathered  headway, 
there  were  many  foreigners.  There  were  English,  Ger- 
mans, Japanese  and  French.  There  were  also  Americans, 
Spaniards  and  Chinese.  Mexico  was  afraid  of  and  respected 
Germany,  England,  Japan  and  France.  She  neither  feared 
nor  respected  the  United  States  or  China;  and  she  did  not 
believe  that  Spain  at  the  moment  could  act  against  her.  In 
consequence  it  appears  that  during  these  disturbances,  as 
far  as  can  be  gathered,  there  has  not  been  one  German  killed 
in  Mexico,  and  only  one  Englishman  and  two  Frenchmen. 
I  can  not  find  that  any  Japanese  were  killed.  These  figures 
may  not  be  quite  accurate,  but  they  are  substantially  ac- 
curate. The  minute  the  Frenchmen  were  killed,  the  French 
Government  served  such  summary  notice  on  Mexico  that  it 
has  been  exceedingly  careful  not  to  kill  any  others.  When 
the  Englishman,  Benton,  was  killed,  not  merely  did  England 
flame  up,  but  it  is  actually  true  that  far  more  interest  was 
excited  in  this  country  than  was  shown  over  all  of  our  own 
men,  women  and  children  who  were  killed  in  Mexico.  There 
have  been  no  further  outrages  on  the  lives  of  British  sub- 
jects. The  Germans  are  not  only  safe,  but  at  Tampico,  for  in- 
stance, enjoy  special  privileges.  The  Japanese  enjoy  the 
same  consideration.  But  meanwhile,  according  to  the  best 
information  at  our  disposal,  the  Mexicans  have  killed  over 
three  hundred  Chinese;  over  five  hundred  Americans;  and 
at  least  a  couple  of  hundred  Spaniards.  I  ask  you  to  con- 

92 


The  Mexican  Iniquity  93 

sider  these  facts.  The  Mexicans  have  not  killed  a  single 
German  and  only,  one  Englishman.  But  they  have  killed 
several  hundred  Americans  and  several  hundred  Chinese. 
They  class  the  Germans  and  Englishmen  as  belonging  to 
nations  able  to  protect  the  lives  of  their  citizens ;  whereas, 
thanks  to  Mr.  Wilson,  they  regard  the  Americans  and 
Chinese  as  equally  safe  to  murder,  outrage  and  plunder.  I 
ask  the  people  of  this  country  to  consider  these  facts  for 
themselves,  and  to  draw  their  own  conclusions ;  and  if  they 
have  ordinary  self-respect,  if  they  have  feelings  of  ordinary 
patriotism,  they  cannot  consent  to  continue  in  power  the 
Administration  that  is  responsible  for  such  a  condition  of 
affairs. 

American  Citizenship  a  Handicap 

The  natural  effect  of  this  policy  is  shown  by  the  fact 
that  it  is  no  longer  safe  for  foreign  companies  in  Mexico  to 
have  American  employees  or  to  be  operated  under  an  Amer- 
ican name.  Instance  after  instance  of  this  kind  has  been 
brought  to  my  attention  with  the  personal  request  that  I  do 
not  use  it  for  fear  that  damage  should  come  to  those  giving 
me  the  information.  I  know  case  after  case  where  this  has 
been  true  of  industrial,  mining  and  pastoral  enterprises,  but 
where  my  informants  feared  for  their  lives  if  the  informa- 
tion was  made  public.  There  are,  however,  published  state- 
ments of  specific  instances  to  the  same  effect.  For  example, 
I  saw  a  public  statement  issued  by  the  Santa  Gertrudis 
Company,  Limited,  issued  at  London  the  21st  of  July  last, 
which  notifies  the  shareholders  that  it  has  become  neces- 
sary "to  withdraw  the  American  management  and  staff,  and 
to  arrange  for  the  continuance  of  operations  under  English 
and  Mexican  management."  I  have  received  letter  after 
letter  from  men  in  Mexico,  who  have  stated  that  they  have 
tried  to  obtain  German  or  English  citizenship  and  abandon 
American  citizenship  because  as  Americans  they  were  liable 
to  insult  and  murder,  and  as  Germans  or  Englishmen  they 
were  comparatively  safe.  I  know  a  Boer  who  was  deported 
by  the  English  from  South  Africa  after  the  Boer  war,  but 
who  in  Mexico  has  established  his  rights  as  an  Englishman, 
not  as  an  American  citizen,  because  our  government  gives 
no  protection  to  its  people. 


94  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

Actions  Due  to  Fear 

Thanks  to  President  Wilson  and  the  professional  paci- 
fists it  is  safe  for  Mexican  bandits  to  murder  Americans 
and  Chinese,  and  to  take  their  property,  and  the  murderers 
and  bandits  are  encouraged  by  the  acts  and  utterances  of 
the  President  of  the  United  States  and  his  authorized  rep- 
resentatives. Remember  also  that  these  bandits  are  the 
worst  foes  of  the  decent  citizens  of  Mexico,  and  that  these 
honest  and  law-abiding  Mexicans  have  been  the  people  most 
damaged  by  President  Wilson's  policy  of  tame  submission 
to  infamy.  What  President  Wilson's  motives  are  it  is  hard 
to  guess.  As  reported  in  the  press,  not  a  few  of  Mr.  Wil- 
son's own  supporters  take  the  ground  that  he  acts  in  this 
manner  because  he  is  influenced  by  downright  fear.  On 
August  8th  last  it  was  announced  in  the  pres£  that  Mr. 
Frank  B.  Vrooman,  Democratic  National  Committeeman,  of 
Colorado,  stated  at  Denver  that  "President  Wilson  had 
wisely  avoided  war  with  Mexico  because  there  are  400,000 
Japanese  soldiers  in  Mexico,  and  because  both  Germany  and 
Japan  are  planning  to  overthrow  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  and 
therefore  war  with  Mexico  would  mean  war  with  both  these 
countries."  Mr.  Vrooman's  premises  are  unsound.  There 
is  slight  reason  to  believe  that  there  are  as  many  as  4000 
Japanese  of  military  age  in  Mexico.  But  his  statement,  if 
correctly  reported  (and  it  has  not  been  contradicted) ,  is  a 
frank  admission  and  assertion  of  his  belief,  the  belief  of  one 
of  President  Wilson's  close  political  admirers  and  sup- 
porters, that  President  Wilson  is  afraid  to  interfere  in  Mex- 
ico, because  he  is  afraid  lest  Germany  and  Japan  stop  us 
when  we  try  to  exact  atonement  for  the  murder  of  American 
citizens  and  the  destruction  of  American  property.  Re- 
cently Vice-President  Marshall  is  reported  in  the  press  as 
having  said  that  for  us  to  take  action  in  Mexico  (in  defense 
of  the  lives  and  property  of  our  people)  would  be  to  "make 
war  on  Berlin,"  and  that  therefore  we  must  not  act  against 
Mexico.  I  have  seen  no  denial  of  this  statement.  In  other 
words,  these  champions  of  Mr.  Wilson  justify  his  conduct 
—conduct  otherwise  utterly  inexplicable — on  the  ground 
that  he  is  afraid  to  protect  American  life  in  Mexico,  lest  he 
thereby  offend  great  old-world  powers.  Why,  if  this  state- 


The  Mexican  Iniquity  95 

ment  is  true,  it  is  itself  the  bitterest  indictment  of  Mr. 
Wilson's  policy,  and  proves  his  abandonment  of  the  Monroe 
Doctrine.  His  own  friends  thus  announce  that  he  tamely 
acquiesces  in  the  murder  of  American  men,  and  the  outrage 
of  American  women  by  Mexican  bandits  for  fear  that  he 
should  offend  Japan~and  Germany.  For  the  three  and  a  half 
years  of  his  term  of  office  he  has  kept  us  in  a  condition  of 
such  military  and  naval  impotence  that  we  dare  not  assert 
even  such  elementary  rights  as  that  American  citizens  shall 
be  secure  in  life  and  property,  not  merely  in  a  foreign  land, 
but  even  within  our  own  borders — for  remember  that  scores 
of  our  citizens  have  been  killed  and  wounded  within  our  own 
boundaries. 

Mr.  Wilson  Condemns  Himself 

Remember  always  that  the  infamies  that  have  been 
committed  in  Mexico  have  been  explicitly  set  forth  by 
President  Wilson  himself  through  his  Secretary  of  State  on 
June  20  last.  President  Wilson,  in  the  course  of  his  efforts 
to  shield  Carranza,  denounced  the  truthful  statement  of  the 
hideous  conditions  in  Mexico  as  being  a  "traffic  in  false- 
hood" designed  to  "create  intolerable  friction  between  our 
Government  and  Carranza's  in  the  interest  of  certain  own- 
ers of  Mexican  properties."  He  made  these  deliberate 
charges  on  March  20th  last.  Senator  Fall  promptly  chal- 
lenged President  Wilson  to  name  these  alleged  conspirators 
and  also  challenged  him  to  make  public  the  documents  in 
the  State  Department.  As  always  when  challenged  fear- 
lessly, President  Wilson  promptly  flinched.  He  has  not 
dared,  to  publish  the  documents  in  the  State  Department, 
and  by  failing  to  publish  the  names  of  the  alleged  conspira- 
tors during  these  seven  months,  he  has  admitted  that  his 
statement  was  without  foundation  in  fact.  But  this  is  not- 
all.  His  note  of  June  20th  is  the  fullest  and  most  complete 
admission  of  all  that  has  been  charged  and  all  that  he  has  de- 
nied or  palliated.  The  facts  therein  set  forth  furnish  a 
complete  and  irrefutable  condemnation  of  his  own  policy 
towards  Mexico  and  towards  Carranza. 

This  authoritative  statement  issued  by  Mr.  Wilson 
through  his  Secretary  of  State  sets  forth  that  for  three  years 
there  has  been  continuous  bloodshed  and  disorder  in 


96  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

Mexico;  that  Americans  have  been  barbarously  murdered, 
and  vast  properties  developed  by  American  capital  and  en- 
terprise destroyed;  that  the  murderers  have  not  been 
brought  to  justice ;  that  during  the  past  nine  months  there 
have  been  constant  invasions,  depredations  and  murders  on 
American  soil  by  Mexican  bandits;  that  American  soldiers 
have  been  killed ;  American  ranches  raided,  American  rail- 
way trains  wrecked  and  plundered,  and  American  towns 
destroyed ;  and  that  Carranza's  soldiers  and  adherents  took 
part  in  the  looting,  burriing  and  killing;  that  the  murders 
were  characterized  by  ruthless  brutality  and  barbarous 
mutilation ;  that  some  of  the  leaders  in  these  atrocities  have 
not  only  received  protection,  but  encouragement  and  aid 
from  Carranza's  Government;  that  during  this  time  there 
was  instance  after  instance  of  the  barbarous  slaughter  of 
unoffending  Americans  in  Mexico  itself,  in  addition  to  the 
heinous  crimes  committed  in  murdering,  burning  and 
plundering  on  American  soil;  that  Carranza's  generals 
made  no  effort  to  stop  the  crimes,  and  that  Carranza  him- 
self was  either  unable,  or  else  considered  it  undesirable,  to 
punish  the  criminals ;  that  Carranza  gave  neither  co-opera- 
tion nor  assistance  to  the  American  troops  who  pursued 
the  bandits;  that  on  the  contrary,  Carranza's  adherents 
halted  the  American  pursuit  at  Parral  and  became  the  pro- 
tectors of  Villa  and  his  bandits ;  and  that  Carranza's  Gov- 
ernment has  shown  that  it  does  not  intend  or  desire  that 
the  outlaws,  bandits  and  criminals  who  have  been  guilty 
of  these  murders  and  outrages  shall  be  captured,  de- 
stroyed or  dispersed,  either  by  American  troops  or  by  Mexi- 
can troops. 

In  the  above  statement  I  have  used  the  exact  words  of 
Mr.  Wilson's  Secretary,  merely  condensing  the  statement 
and  keeping  exactly  its  sense.  I  have  not  used  one  word 
not  contained  in  the  statement.  No  indictment  by  me  of 
Mr.  Wilson's  policy  could  be  as  strong  as  that  furnished  by 
himself.  Immediately  afterwards  occurred  the  treacherous 
murder  of  our  tro.ops  at  Carrizal.  Then  Mr.  Wilson  be- 
came frightened,  bowed  in  abject  submission  to  Carranza, 
kissed  the  hand  that  was  red  with  the  blood  of  American 
men  and  women,  and,  inasmuch  as  he  dared  not  hold  Car- 


The  Mexican  Iniquity  97 

ranza  responsible,  began  in  unmanly  fashion  to  scold  Car- 
ranza's  wretched  American  victims. 

Mr.  Wilson  says  he  has  "kept  us  out  of  war."  The 
Democratic  platform  says  that  the  Mexicans  "have  made 
war  upon  and  murdered  our  people."  For  once  the  Demo- 
cratic platform  told  the  truth.  Mr.  Wilson  says  that  some 
of  the  murdered  men  were  barbarously  mutilated.  In  the 
press  one  such  case  of  mutilation  is  described.  Two  troop- 
ers of  the  12th  U.  S.  Cavalry,  Henry  Stubblefield  and 
Richard  Johnson,  one  from  Virginia  and  one  from  New 
York,  were  killed  by  Carranza's  troops  at  Progreso,  Texas, 
on  September  29th,  1915.  Stubblefield's  body  was  found 
soon  after  the  fight.  Johnson  was  reported  missing,  but 
Mexican  prisoners  informed  our  officers  that  Johnson  had 
been  tortured  and  beheaded,  his  body  thrown  into  the  Rio 
Grande,  and  his  head  and  ears  cut  off  and  displayed  to  the 
populace  of  the  Mexican  town  of  Concepcion  as  evidence 
that  American  troops  had  been  routed.  This  was  not  an 
exceptional  instance;  it  was  typical  of  what  has  gone  on 
unchecked  in  Mexico. 

What  Could  Have  Been  Done 

Mr.  Wilson  and  his  followers  are  fond  of  asking,  when 
we  criticize  his  action,  "What  would  you  have  done?" 
Either  one  of  two  courses  could  properly  have  been  fol- 
lowed. It  would  have  been  defensible  to  have  recognized 
Huerta,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  other  great  powers  had 
recognized  him;  and,  of  course,  it  was  quite  indefensible 
to  refuse  to  recognize  him  and  yet  recognize  Benavides  in 
Peru,  and  Carranza  in  Mexico.  In  such  event  we  would 
have  held  Huerta  to  "strict  responsibility"  by  acts,  for  re- 
storing order  in  Mexico  and  for  protecting  American  life 
and  property. 

This  course  would  have  been  defensible.  Personally,  it 
seems  to  me  that  it  would  have  been  even  better  to  have  done 
exactly  what  Mr.  Wilson  said  he  would  do,  but  did  not  do. 
•He  said  to  Congress  on  August  27th,  1913':  "We  should 
let  everyone  who  assumes  to  exercise  authority  in  any  part 
of  Mexico  know  in  the  most  unequivocal  way  that  we  shall 
vigilantly  watch  the  fortunes  of  those  Americans  who  can- 


98  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

not  get  away,  and  shall  hold  those  responsible  for  their 
sufferings  and  losses  to  a  definite  reckoning.  This  can  be 
and  will  be  put  beyond  the  possibility  of  a  misunderstand- 
ing." On  the  same  day  he  sent  to  the  American  Consul- 
General  and  Consular  Agents  in  Mexico  two  telegrams  in- 
structing them  "to  notify  all  officials,  military  or  civil, 
exercising  authority,  that  they  would  be  held  strictly  re- 
sponsible for  any  harm  done  to  Americans  or  for  injury  to 
their  property."  These  were  fine  words.  Excellent  words ! 
They  were  as  good  as  the  words  in  the  Democratic  Plat- 
form, four  years  ago  and  now,  to  the  effect  that  all  Ameri- 
can citizens,  at  home  and  abroad,  must  be  protected  in 
their  rights,  and  no  wrongs  permitted  against  their  persons 
or  property.  The  trouble  is  that  neither  the  promises  and 
menaces  of  President  Wilson  nor  the  pledges  in  the  Demo- 
cratic platform  were  worth  the  paper  on  which  they  were 
written  or  the  breath  expended  in  uttering  them. 

Disgraceful  Withdrawal  at  Tampico 

Mr.  Wilson's  notice  was  explicit  and  emphatic.  If  he 
had  meant  what  he  said  and  if  he  had  possessed  the  small- 
est fraction  of  the  resolution  and  courage  of  such  a  Demo- 
cratic President  as  Andrew  Jackson  he  would  have  lived 
up  to  this  notice.  He  would  have  acted  at  once  against 
every  leader,  whether  Huerta,  Villa  or  Carranza  or  any  one 
else,  who  permitted  injury  to  American  life  and  property  or 
who  failed  to  prevent  it;  and  if  necessary,  he  would  have 
sent  some  such  man  as  General  Leonard  Wood  into  the 
country  to  behave  precisely  as  we  behaved  in  Cuba,  to  re- 
habilitate Mexico  and  to  restore  her  to  her  people  just  as 
we  did  in  the  case  of  Cuba,  when  order  and  civilization 
again  obtained  in  the  country.  Instead  of  doing  this,  Presi- 
dent Wilson  stood  idly  by  while  hundreds  of  Amsricans 
were  murdered.  He  has  not  protected  American  lives  and 
American  property.  All  that  he  has  done  has  been  from 
time  to  time  to  help  one  bandit  leader  against  some  other 
bandit  leader.  'The  Tampicov  incident  furnishes  the  best 
proof  of  this  fact.  There  were  2300  American  refugees  in 
Tampico,  whose  lives  were  threatened  by  the  Mexican 
revolutionists.  American  gunboats  were  in  the  harbor  to 


The  Mexican  Iniquity  99 

protect  them.  But  President  Wilson  was  *iot  concerned 
with  their  protection.  He  was  concerned  solely  with  helping 
his  then  friend  Villa,  and  antagonizing  Villa's  foe,.Huerta. 
He  was  furnishing  Villa  with  the  arms  which  Villa  used  for 
the  slaughter  of  Americans.  We  have  it  on  the  authority 
of  Mr.  Wilson's  friend  and  champion,  Senator  Lewis,  of 
Illinois,  that  Mr.  Wilson  actually  intended  to  recognize  Villa, 
the  murderer,  raider  and  robber,  as  President,  but  was 
afraid  to  do  so  because  of  the  Republican  opposition.  The 
American  ships  at  Tampico  were  withdrawn  from  this  duty 
of  protecting  the  lives  of  American  men,  women  and  chil- 
dren from  would-be  murderers,  and  were  sent  to  operate 
against  Huerta  at  Vera  Cruz,  in  the  interest  of  Villa.  The 
Americans  owed  their  lives  to  the  protection  of  the  German 
and  British  warships.  Whether  this  dreadful  betrayal  of 
duty  was  due  immediately  to  the  direct  action  of  Secretary 
Daniels,  or  to  the  action  of  the  officers  whom  he  had  put  in 
charge  at  Tampico  and  Vera  Cruz,  is  of  no  consequence. 
The  ultimate  responsibility  for  this  and  for  all  the  other 
shameful  episodes  in  Mexico,  rests  directly  on  President 
Wilson  himself. 

Mexico  Ruined 

President  Wilson  has  seen  the  Mexicans  during  these 
three  and  a  half  years  become  socially,  politically  and 
morally  bankrupt.  He  has  not  helped  Mexico.  He  has 
ruined  Mexico.  The  jungle  is  creeping  over  the  great  plan- 
tations. The  cattle  on  the  ranches  have  bean  wantonly  and 
wastefully  slaughtered.  The  thoroughbred  stock  farms 
which  were  the  work  of  decades  have  been  destroyed.  Irri- 
gation plants  are  out  of  service,  railroad  terminals  have 
been  burnt,  rolling  stock  and  locomotives  broken  up  and 
damaged  beyond  repair.  Mines  that  furnished  employment 
to  scores  of  thousands  are  standing  idle.  The  National 
Treasury  has  been  emptied.  A  paper  currency,  debased  and 
worthless,  has  been  substituted  for  the  nation's  money. 
All  the  means  of  an  orderly  economic  life  have  been  de- 
stroyed. An  epidemic  of  typhus  rages  that  twice  has  men- 
aced the  health  of  our  border  cities.  The  country  no  longer 
produces  sufficient  foodstuffs.  Actual  starvation  is  upon  the 
people.  Sixty  thousand  white  men,  who  were  one  of  the 


100  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

great  civilizing  and  developing  forces  of  Mexico,  are  in  exile. 
The  jungle,  the  desert  and  a  cruel,  primitive  savagery  hold 
sway.  Carranza's  government  is  but  a  shell  of  authority, 
based  on  murder  and  plunder,  limited  to  a  few  of  the  larger 
cities  and  railroad  lines,  in  antagonism  to  every  organizing 
force  upon  which  a  government  can  rest.  The  absolute 
refusal  of  the  outside  world  to  lend  it  money  is  evidence  of 
the  low  credit  in  which  it  is  held,  and  is  also  a  grim  com- 
mentary on  Mr.  Wilson's  folly  in  assailing  the  American 
miners,  ranchers,  workingmen,  investors  and  business  men, 
who  alone  rendered  possible  a  healthy  prosperity  in  Mexico. 
In  the  message  above  referred  to  President  Wilson  said 
that  it  was  our  duty  to  discharge  the  trust  that  "the  great 
powers  of  the  world  had  placed  in  our  hands  with  reference 
to  Mexico."  But  he  has  done  nothing  to  discharge  this  trust. 
He  has  sent  our  sailors  and  soldiers  to  invade  Mexican  soil. 
These  men  have  shot  down  Mexicans  and  have  themselves 
been  killed.  But  nothing  has  resulted,  except  to  increase 
the  hatred  of  the  Mexicans  for  Americans.  He  has  con- 
tinually protested  that  he  would  not  intervene  in  Mexico, 
and  yet  he  has  intervened  continually,  in  every  way,  from 
diplomacy  to  war ;  but  always  with  futility,  and  always  with 
timidity.  He  has  sinned  heavily  against  Mexico.  He  has 
sinned  against  humanity.  He  has  sinned  most  heavily 
against  the  United  States.  He  has  allowed  Mexico  to  drift 
into  bloody  anarchy.  Mexico  needs  peace  and  security.  We 
can  give  peace  and  security  to  Mexico,  but  only  if  we  show 
courage  and  resolution.  If  we  fail,  then  some  foreign  power 
will,  in  the  end,  itself  do  the  task,  and  make  Mexico  its 
servant,  to  our  own  irreparable  damage.  Mr..  Wilson  is 
inviting  this  disaster. 

Mexico  and  the  Panama  Canal 

It  can  not  be  a  matter  of  indifference  to  us  what  kind  of 
a  government  arises  in  Mexico.  Mexico  in  its  geographical 
and  physical  aspects,  with  the  Panama  Canal  adjoining,  rep- 
resents to  the  United  States  what  the  Balkans'  and  Asia 
Minor  represent  to  Europe.  There  the  Dardanelles  and  the 
Suez  Canal  are  the  prize,,  valuable  as  the  Panama  Canal  is 
valuable  to  us,  as  a  source  of  profit  and  national  power. 


The  Mexican  Iniquity  101 

After  a  decade  of  internal  warfare  and  struggle  in  the  Bal- 
kans, the  present  world  war  resulted.  If  we  let  Mexico  sink 
into  permanent  anarchy,  and  show  ourselves  too  feeble  to 
restore  order,  then  sooner  or  later  some  old-world  military 
power  will  itself  step  in  and  take  possession,  with  results  as 
disastrous  to  us  as  the  anarchy  in  the  Balkan  peninsula  has 
been  disastrous  to  Europe.  Mexico,  like  Asia  Minor,  is  a 
mountainous  peninsula.  It  dominates  the  Caribbean  and  has 
immediate  access  to  both  ends  of  the  Panama  Canal.  The 
government  in  Mexico  must  necessarily  interact  with  and 
upon  the  governments  and  population  of  the  northern  half  of 
the  South  American  continent.  A  strong  and  stable  govern- 
ment in  Mexico,  working  in  harmonious  relations  with  the 
United  States,  could  establish  security  for  property  and 
make  it  possible  for  American  enterprise  to  carry  railroads, 
irrigation  works  and  other  benefits  of  civilization  into  that 
territory.  The  development  of  the  Mexican  railroad  net 
would  enable  the  United  States,  in  case  the  need  ever  arose, 
to  help  ward  off  aggression  by  a  foreign  power.  A  railroad 
extending  to  the  Panama  Canal  would  give  us  access  by  land 
to  the  Canal,  with  which  the  future  of  the  United  States  is  so 
intimately  bound  up.  Such  a  Mexican  government,  repre- 
senting the  best  forces  of  that  country,  would  be  eager  to 
work  with  us  by  the  free  exchange  of  what  they  have  to  give 
in  return  for  the  advantages  of  what  we  can  offer  them.  Such 
a  government  would  be  of  incalculable  benefit  to  Mexico  it- 
self, and  would  also  add  greatly  to  the  security  of  the  United 
States.  A  weak,  disorganized  Mexican  government  as  a 
willing  or  unwilling  ally  of  a  foreign  power,  hostile  to  our 
country,  might  do  us  irreparable  damage. 

Intelligence  and  Self -Sacrifice  Necessary 

It  will  take  foresight,  intelligence  and  self-sacrifice  on 
the  part  of  our  statesmen  and  our  people  to  solve  these 
problems  in  the  right  way  now  so  as  to  ward  off  danger  in 
the  future.  President  Wilson's  policies  have  been  without 
plan  or  purpose;  he  has  not  looked  beyond  tomorrow;  he 
has  had  no  objects  aside  from  momentary  political  profit 
at  home,  and  possibly  the  gratification  of  personal  spite 
toward,  or  personal  favoritism  for,  some  particular  bandit. 


102  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

His  attitude  has  shifted  hither  and  thither.  At  an  enormous 
expense  to  all  that  is  good  and  .stable  in  Mexico  and  at  a 
terrible  cost  of  American  lives,  property  and  prestige,  he 
has  lifted  Carranza  into  power.  Through  the  maneuvering 
of  an  A-B-C  convention  he  placed  him  upon  his  shaky  ped- 
estal and  today,  by  the  expedient  of  another  I-O-U  conven- 
tion, he  is  trying  to  prop  and  bolster  the  tottering  structure. 
Yet  at  this  very  time,  Carranza's  government,  which  is 
wholly  the  child  of  President  Wilson's  diplomacy,  turns 
against  us,  and  thereby  foreshadows  the  course  that  this 
same  man  Carranza  would  take  if,  by  the  aid  of  such  loans, 
as  it  has  been  vaguely  hinted  that  the  present  Administra- 
tion is  trying  to  secure  for  him  in  financial  circles,  his  gov- 
ernment would  become  strong.  This  is  shown  in  the  New 
York  World,  Wilson's  administration  organ.  In  a  dispatch 
from  its  special  representative  at  Newport,  on  October  10th, 
it  set  forth  that  as  soon  as  the  German  submarines  began  to 
operate  off  the  coast,  the  Carranza  delegates  at  the  confer- 
ence "became  elated  at  the  prospect  of  this  country  becom- 
ing involved  in  further  international  entanglements  and 
their  attitude  stiffened  considerably."  The  threat  thus  re- 
vealed in  the  attitude  of  these  Carranza  agents  is  a  sinister 
omen  of  the  future  danger  that  lurks  in  Mr.  Wilson's  di- 
plomacy. Some  day  this  diplomacy  will  be  paid  for  by  this 
country  in  the  bloodshed,  suffering  and  disaster  of  war. 


PREPAREDNESS: 
MILITARY,  INDUSTRIAL  AND  SPIRITUAL 

Denver,  Colorado,  October  24,  1916 


I  SPEAK  to  you  especially  of  the  prime  duty  of  self-de- 
fense. I  abhor  unjust  and  wanton  war.  I  shall  always 
do,  as  I  always  have  done,  everything  to  secure  honorable 
and  lasting  peace.  But  it  is  folly  to  say  that  we  shall  never 
be  engaged  in  war.  The  events  of  the  past  two  years  show 
that  as  the  world  now  is,  such  an  assumption  by  any  nation 
is  not  only  folly,  but  criminal  folly.  Washington,  who  was 
the  very  opposite  of  the  pacifists  of  his  day,  said  that  this 
country  could  not  expect  always  to  avoid  war.  His  words 
were  true  then.  They  are  true  now.  If  this  nation  con- 
tinues its  national  existence  long  enough  it  is  sure  at  some 
time  in  the  future  to  be  involved  in  war  exactly  as  at  times 
in  the  past  it  has  been  involved  in  war.  Our  prime  duty 
is  so  to  prepare  as  to  minimize  the  number  of  occasions 
when  war  will  come  and  to  ensure  that,  when  it  does  come, 
it  shall  result  neither  dishonorably  nor  disastrously  for  the 
American  people.  At  this  moment  we  are  not  ready  in  any 
way,  physically  or  spiritually,  to  face  a  serious  foe.  We 
owe  this  lamentable  fact  to  several  causes,  but  especially  to 
the  evil  leadership  given  our  people  in  high  places.  Mr. 
Wilson  has  not  only  been  too  proud  to  fight,  but  has  also 
been  too  proud  tq  prepare. 

The  people  of  this  country  should  provide  for  a  first- 
class  navy,  a  navy  relative  to  the  other  powers  what  our 
navy  was  in  February,  1909,  when  the  battle-fleet  returned 
from  the  cruise  around  the  world.  We  should  have  a  regular 
army  of  a  quarter  of  a  million  short-service  men,  which 
would  give  us  a  mobile  army  of  125,000  or  150,000  to  deal 
with  such  exigencies  as  that  which  the  feebleness  of  our 
government  has  brought  about  on  the  Mexican  border  at 
this  moment.  And  this  should  be  only  the  beginning.  A 

103 


104  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

freeman  must  not  merely  hire  others  to  do  his  fighting  for 
him.  If  he  wishes  permanently  to  remain  a  freeman  he 
must  fit  himself  to  fight  for  his  own  rights,  that  is,  for  his 
country's  rights. 

System  Should  Be  Changed 

I  honor  the  National  Guardsmen  who  are  at  the  front. 
They  have  the  true  soldierly  stuff  in  them.  But  the  system 
under  which  they  have  been  sent  is  an  atrocious  one,  and 
should  be  changed  at  once.  They  have  been  tricked  into 
going  into  what  they  supposed  was  a  war  on  behalf  of  the 
country.  When  they  entered  the  militia  most  of  them  had  no 
idea  that  they  would  be  conscripted  as  they  have  been.  Their 
sense  of  honor  has  forbidden  them  to  refuse  going.  But 
they  should  never  have  been  sent  for  mere  police  duty ;  for 
remember  that,  thanks  to  Mr.  Wilson's  tame  refusal  to 
punish  the  Mexican  bandits,  we  now  have  on  the  border  a 
force  of  American  soldiers  from  ten  to  twenty  times  as 
numerous  as  the  bandits  across  the  border;  and  yet  this 
force  does  nothing.  Many  men  have  gone  who  have  been 
obliged. to  leave  their  wives  and  children  to  suffer  actual 
want,  and  who  have  permanently  injured  their  professional 
or  business  careers,  or  definitely  lost  their  jobs,  because 
they  had  to  go  to  the  front  and  spend  months  away  from 
their  business,  away  from  their  homes,  to  make  good  the 
damage  done  by  the  utter  folly  of  our  rulers  in  Washington. 

These  rulers  in  Washington  were  not  really  interested 
in  Preparedness.  They  were  not  really  interested  in  the 
defense  of  their  country.  They  thought  only  of  their  own 
political  fortunes  in  the  immediate  future.  They  refused 
to  give  us  expert  military  legislation.  They  gave  us  political 
military  legislation;  legislation  designed  to  secure  votes 
next  November  at  the  cost  of  the  lives  of  the  gallant  officers 
and  men  of  the  regular  army ;  at  the  cost  of  the  lives  of  the 
civilians,  men,  women  and  children  on  the  border,  and  in 
Mexico;  and  at  the  cost  of  the  well-being  of  thousands  of 
the  families  of  national  guardsmen  who  had  themselves 
been  sent  to  the  Mexican  border.  The  legislation  of  the  last 
session  should  be  repealed  and  the  work  of  preparedness 
entered  upon  with  serious  purpose.  The  Hay  military  law 


Preparedness:  Military,  Industrial  and  Spiritual     105 

was  evil  from  almost  every  standpoint.  The  system  of 
militia  pay  which  it  embodied,  taken  in  connection  with  its 
other  features,  made  it  an  unworthy  political  expedient 
designed  to  transform  the  militia  of  the  several  states  into 
a  huge  political  machine,  dangerous  to  the  well-being  of 
the  country  and  of  its  citizen  soldiery.  Most  regrettably 
this  feature  of  the  militia  pay,  in  its  present  unwise  form, 
and  the  other  unwise  features  of  the  bill,  are  due  in  no  small 
degree  to  the  influence  of  a  powerful  militia  body  on  the 
President  and  on  Congress.  This  lobby  represented  not  the 
military  interests  of  the  nation,  nor  the  interest  of  the 
immense  majority  of  the  rank  and  file  and  junior  officers 
of  the  National  Guard,  but  the  interests  of  a  limited  num- 
ber of  officers,  most  of  them  of  higher  rank.  Replacing  and 
repealing  this  law,  we  should  have  a  law  restoring  the 
militia  to  its  former  status  and  establishing  a  system  of 
obligatory  universal  military  training  and  service  under 
which  we  would  avoid  the  cruel  injustice  and  hardship  in- 
flicted this  summer  on  so  many  thousands  of  the  National 
Guardsmen  who  have  been  sent  to  the  border — not  to  make 
war  for  the  country,  but  to  help  Mr.  Wilson  wobble  between 
feeble  peace  and  feeble  war  until  after  election. 

Universal  Training  and  Service  Needed 

See  that  your  representatives  vote  for  a  large  and  effi- 
cient navy  and  a  small  but  efficient  regular  army.  But 
always  remember  that  in  a  free  democracy  no  man  should 
have  the  right  to  vote  in  the  civil  affairs  of  the  country  if 
he  does  not  perform  all  the  duties  required  by  the  country, 
not  only  in  peace,  but  in  war ;  and  he  cannot  perform  these 
duties  in  time  of  war  unless  he  fits  himself  to  perform  -them, 
unless  he  trains  himself  to  perform  them,  in  time  of  peace. 
I  believe  in  universal  military  obligatory  training  of  all  our 
young  men  in  time  of  peace;  and,  in  time  of  war,  in  uni- 
versal military  service  for  every  man  and  every  woman  in 
whatever  position  it  is  deemed  that  man  or  women  can  best 
render  such  service  to  the  nation. 

Federal  National  Guard  Inadequate 

The  mobilization  of  the  militia  on  the  border  has  proved 
that  the  Federal  National  Guard  is  a  broken  reed  from 


106  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

the  standpoint  of  National  Preparedness,  and  represents  no 
adequate  national  strength  either  to  repel  sudden  attack  or 
to  carry  on  prolonged  defensive  warfare.  The  amiable 
pacifist  who  was  chosen  by  Mr.  Wilson,  with  his  usual  ex- 
quisite sense  of  entire  military  unfitness,  to  be  Secretary  of 
War,  prattled  with  Bryan-like  cheerfulness  about  how  "mo- 
bilizations take  place  easily  and  need  not  be  upon  magnif- 
icent scale  in  advance."  Then  on  June  18th,  working  on 
this  theory  of  easy  and  unprepared-fof  mobilization,  he 
commanded  the  entire  National  Guard  to  mobilize  imme- 
diately. After  ten  days  of  maximum  effort  just  twelve  per 
cent,  of  the  men  were  started  for  the  border.  Over  thirty 
per  cent,  of  the  Guard  were  found  to  be  unfit  for  duty. 
Many  of  the  men  who  started  for  the  border  had  never  re- 
ceived a  single  day's  training.  Many  had  never  fired  a  rifle. 
Most  of  the  cavalry  regiments  had  no  horses.  Half  the 
artillery  batteries  had  no  guns.  I  know  one  division  in 
which,  after  three  months,  ten  per  cent,  of  the  men  have  not 
received  their  blouses  and  twenty  per  cent,  have  not  received 
their  rifles.  Some  of  the  regiments  on  the  border  have 
learned  •  with  wonderful  quickness  and  are  in  fine  shape. 
Some  have  made  no  improvement.  A  few  have  proved 
utterly  worthless,  because  their  officers  were  so  untrained 
and  so  unfit  for  command  that  they  could  not  teach  and 
guide  and  help  over  difficulties  and  care  for  their  men,  who 
became  little  better  than  a  mob.  The  best  men  in  the  best 
regiments  on  the  border  have  profited  much ;  have  profited 
more  than  men  who  go  to  the  excellent  Plattsburg  and 
similar  military  training  camps  have  profited.  But  now, 
after  over  four  months,  a  first-class  National  Guard  officer, 
who  is  with  his  regiment  on  the  border,  writes  me:  "Here 
we  have  all  the  organized  troops  in  the  country  on  the 
border  and  they  only  total  a  very  small  force,  part  of  which 
is  ineffective ;  I  should  say  that,  after  three  months,  we  have 
between  50,000  and  75,000  useful  troops  in  all."  In  other 
words,  after  three  months  we  did  not  assemble  an  army  fit 
to  resist  a  single  German  or  Japanese  army  corps,  such  as 
could  be  landed  in  New  York  in  a  fortnight  or  in  San  Fran- 
cisco in  a  month.  President  Wilson  has  refused  to  read  the 
dreadful  lesson  written  in  fire  and  blood  across  the  face  of 


Preparedness :  Military,  Industrial  and  Spiritual     107 

the  world  during  the  last  two  years  and  a  quarter.  He  has 
left  us  shamefully  unready  to  protect  ourselves  or  do  our 
duty  by  others. 

What  a  National  Guard  Officer  Says 

The  letter  of  the  National  Guardsman  I  have  quoted 
above  puts  certain  facts,  in  which  I  believe  with  all  my 
heart,  so  clearly,  that,  coming  as  it  does  from  a  man  in  the 
field,  I  quote  it : 

"I  am  more  and  more  impressed  with  the  need  of  uni- 
versal service,  and  its  extreme  desirability,  even  if  it  were 
not  needed.  With  any  kind  of  effective  universal  service  we 
could,  in  the  event  of  an  emergency  like  the  present,  raise 
and  officer  half  a  million  fairly  well-trained  troops  without 
disturbing  anything.  Of  course,  I  realize  that  we  must 
keep  the  cartridge  makers  in  their  factories  and  the  equip- 
ment makers  all  at  their  work,  so  that  the  troops  in  the 
field  can  be  properly  equipped  and  supplied.  That  should 
mean  that  every  voter  is  card  catalogued,  so  that  in  time 
of  war  you  could  tell  whether  he  should  be  used  as  a  general 
or  a  captain  or  a  private  or  an  equipment  manufacturer  or  a 
railroad  operator.  They  are  all  necessary  and  part  of  the 
organization  of  the  country  as  it  should  be  arranged. 

"I  am  terribly  afraid  people  will  soon  begin  to  say, 
Things  are  quieting  down,  we  should  get  over  our  hysteria 
for  preparedness.'  That  would  be  an  awful  calamity.  We 
have  been  unable  to  handle  the  situations  that  have  come 
up  so  far,  which,  thank  heavens,  have  not  been  as  serious 
as  they  might,  but  things  will  arise  in  the  near  future  that 
we  must  be  ready  for  or  we  will  lose  our  ability  to  handle 
our  own  future  destiny.  We  got  our  liberty  by  war  and 
I  think  it  may  easily  require  war  for  us  to  preserve  it. 

"Even  if  universal  service  did  not  appeal  as  necessary 
I  know  it  would  be  most  desirable.  Here  I  have  seen  men, 
undeveloped,  slovenly,  or  natural  butts  of  ridicule,  in  three 
months  of  proper  military .  training  made  into  strong, 
clean,  self-respecting  men.  We  could  do  that  by  the  mil- 
lion annually  if  we  had  the  chance.  It  would  improve  the 
whole  type  of  the  whole  nation. 

"Add  to  this,  mixing  all  our  people  of  all  our  different 


108  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

classes  under  equal  circumstances  and  conditions,  and  the 
help  to  democracy  would  be  wonderful.  The  hard  part 
would  be  the  choice  of  officers,  who  must  be  educated  and 
have  the  habit  of  command;  and  yet  every  one  must  be 
given  the  chance  to  rise  if  he  really  has  the  stuff  in  him." 

Switzerland  Should  Be  Our  Model 

This  is  only  asking  that  we  in  this  great  Republic  do 
what  has  been  done  for  many  decades  in  the  little  Republic 
of  Switzerland.  Switzerland  is  a  more  genuinely  Demo- 
cratic Republic  than  we  .are,  and  there  is  nothing  that  has 
helped  her  people  more,  physically,  mentally  and  morally, 
or  that  has  done  more  to  perpetuate  and  increase  the  genu- 
ineness of  her  Democracy,  than  the  universal  training,  of 
the  kind  I  advocate,  which  her  sons  have  received.  So  far 
from  being  militarism,  this  kind  of  universal  training  is 
a  healthy  and  efficient  antiseptic  to  militarism.  An  army 
so  trained,  which  would  consist  of  the  citizenship  of  the 
country  in  arms,  would  never  be  used  for  aggression.  Its 
only  purpose  would  be  for  self-defense.  Every  intelligent 
lover  of  peace,  every  peace  lover  whose  convictions  spring 
from  reason  instead  of  from  sheer  hysterical  timidity  and 
folly,  ought  to  welcome  the  calling  into  being  of  such  a 
system.  It  is  the  very  system  which  was  demanded  in  the 
name  of  peace  and  humanity  by  the  great  French  Socialist 
Juares,  who  advocated  it  on  the  ground  that  while  it  would 
not  guarantee  nations  against  war,  it  would  tend  most 
strongly  in  that  direction  by  creating  a  force  efficient  for 
defense  and  very  unlikely  to  be  used  for  offense. 

Switzerland  in  the  time  of  the  Napoleonic  Wars  was 
trampled  on  by  all  of  the  surrounding  belligerent  nations, 
saw  gigantic  battles  between  them  fought  on  its  territory, 
and  was  finally  annexed  by  one  of  them,  and  its  young  men 
drafted  into  her  armies.  The  present  war,  one  hundred 
years  later,  has  seen  her  territory  respected,  although  had 
she  not  been  ready  she  would  have  unquestionably  suffered 
the  fate  of  Belgium.  The  reason  for  the  difference  is  that 
one  hundred  years  ago  there  was  no  universal  training 
among  her  men,  nor  any  aptitude  for  war  on  the  part  of 
the  nation,  which  therefore  fell  a  helpless  prey  to  the 


Preparedness:  Military,  Industrial  and  Spiritual     109 

military  powers.  Now  there  is  universal  service;  the  peo- 
ple are  trained  to  defend  themselves;  and  because  of  the 
fact  that  they  had  been  thus  trained,  that  they  were  efficient, 
that  they  had  prepared  their  strength,  and  were  ready 
to  use  their  strength,  they  were  spared  the  necessity  of 
using  it.  Also  remember  that  this  military  training  of 
the  Swiss  has  enormously  helped  them  in  civic,  social  and 
industrial  matters.  It  has  increased  each  man's  industrial 
capacity;  it  has  taught  him  not  to  be  slack  and  inefficient, 
to  work  hard,  to  be  clean  and  punctual,  to  respect  himself 
and  to  respect  others.  It  has  benefited  him  morally, 
mentally  and  physically.  It  makes  him  more  lawabiding; 
it  is  more  than  a  coincidence  that  relatively  to  their  numbers 
there  are  in  Switzerland  but  one-tenth  as  many  homicides 
as  in  the  United  States. 

Universal  Training  Beneficial  in  Peace 

I  advocate  universal  military  training  as  much  because 
of  what  it  will  mean  to  this  nation  in  peace,  as  because  of 
what  it  will  mean  to  this  nation  in  war.  Washington  said : 
"A  free  people  ought  not  only  to  be  armed,  but  disciplined." 
This  is  simply  another  way  of  saying  that  there  should  be 
universal  obligatory  military  training  for  our  young  men; 
and  surely  we  need  the  discipline,  all  of  us,  in  civil  life 
just  as  much  as  in  military  life.  Such  training  is  em- 
phatically American,  emphatically  Democratic,  emphatically 
anti-militaristic;  and  every  young  man  who  enjoys  it  will 
be  a  better  citizen  in  time  of  peace,  better  able  to  hold  his 
own,  and  more  desirous  of  doing  his  duty  by  his  fellows. 
At  present  only  those  who  can  pay  for  it  can  get  such 
training  and  discipline.  This  is  unjust.  At  present,  in  the 
event  of  the  outbreak  of  war,  the  officers'  commissions  must, 
rightly  and  properly,  be  given  to  the  boys  who  have  fitted 
themselves  for  the  jobs.  Therefore  under  the  present  sys- 
tem, instead  of  having  all  the  boys,  without  any  regard  to 
whether  their  parents  are  or  are  not  people  of  means, 
treated  alike  and  the  best  men  made  officers,  we  find  com- 
missions limited  to  those  who  can  afford  to  pay  for  their 
training.  Inevitably  under  present  conditions,  if  a  war 
came,  a  very  much  larger  proportion  of  the  officers  would 


110  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

be  chosen  from  this  class  than  from  the  class  with  less 
means.  In  addition  to  this,  the  shirk,  the  coward,  the 
mere  money  getter,  the  creature  without  patriotism,  would 
stay  at  home  and  would  try  for  the  job  the  patriotic  man 
left  when  he  went  to  the  front.  I  have  actually  seen, 
even  this  summer,  cases  where  men  who  have  been  sent  to 
the  front  in  the  National  Guard  have  had  their  jobs  taken  by 
men  whom,  I  am  sure,  no  mere  appeal  to  patriotism  would 
ever  be  able  to  get  to  the  front. 

The  democratic  thing  is  to  give  all  of  the  men,  rich 
and  poor,  a  chance  on  equal  terms  to  prove  the  stuff  there  is 
in  them,  so  as  to  secure  each  man  his  rights.  Then,  in 
order  to  exact  from  each  man  the  full  performance  of  his 
duty,  make  the  lazy  man,  the  selfish  man,  the  mere  greedy 
money  getter,  the  poltroon  and  the  pacifist  do  their  part 
of  the  work  of  war,  when  war  comes,  and  run  their  full 
share  of  the  danger,  instead  of  sitting  at  ease  at  home 
to  profit  by  the  courage  and  self-sacrifice  of  their  more 
patriotic  brothers.  This  is  imperatively  needed,  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  nation.  It  will  secure  our  national  effi- 
ciency in  war.  It  will  immensely  help  our  individual  effi- 
ciency in  _time  of  peace.  It  will  benefit  us  individually  in 
soul,  mind  and  body.  It  will  make  the  average  man  more 
self-respecting  and  law-abiding,  better  able  to  shift  for 
himself,  and  to  work  for  and  in  conjunction  with  others. 

This  training  will  be  of  immense  consequence  in  in- 
creasing our  power  of  collective  action.  There  is  no  more 
thoroughly  democratizing  agent  than  the  dog  tent.  Under 
such  a  system  of  universal  training  all  the  young  men  of 
the  nation  would  for  several  months  do  the  same  hard, 
healthy  work,  and  live  together  on  the  same  terms.  The 
son  of  the  railroad  president,  and  the  son  of  the  brakeman, 
the  son  of  the  farmer  and  the  son  of  the  lawyer,  the  son 
of  the  bricklayer  and  the  son  of  the  banker,  would  all  have 
the  same  training,  the  same  chance;  and  the  officers  would 
be  chosen  squarely  on  their  merits  from  the  boys  best  fit 
for  the  jobs.  The  most  important  feature  will  be  the  de- 
velopment of  the  officers,  for  whom,  after  they  had  been 
thus  chosen  from  the  ranks,  there  would  need  be  a  special 
training  course  established. 


Preparedness:  Military,  Industrial  and  Spiritual     111 

The  Only  Democratic  System 

Let  all  the  young  men  go  on  the  same  hikes,  and  work  in 
the  same  drills,  let  them  become  sergeants,  lieutenants  and 
captains  in  fair  competition  with  one  another ;  and  let  them 
understand  and  appreciate  and  make  allowances  for  one  an- 
other. The  man  who  comes  out  from  that  training  will  in 
civil  life  be  infinitely  more  fit  to  perform  his  duties  as  an 
American  citizen.  He  and  his  fellows  will  be  stirred  by  a 
more  genuine  patriotism.  They  will  understand  that  there 
is  no  such  thing  as  real  patriotism  save  in  so  far  as  it  con- 
notes the  spirit  of  sacrifice,  of  service,  of  comradeship  and 
of  brotherhood,  of  devotion  to  duty,  and  to  lofty  ideals. 
They  will  learn  to  put  service  first,  duty  first,  country  first, 
and  to  look  with  abhorrence  and  scorn  on  the  man  who  puts 
safety  first,  ahead  of  duty  and  country.  They  will  learn 
how  to  act  with  self-reliance  and  with  self-control,  and  they 
will  also  learn  how  to  accomplish  most  in  acting  with  others, 
in  disciplined  fashion,  in  a  spirit  of  brotherhood,  and  with 
the  power  to  subordinate  each  his  own  case  and  enjoyment 
to  the  common  welfare,  the  collective  good.  Such  service 
would  fit  us  for  our  duty  in  our  collective  tasks,  political, 
social  and  industrial.  We  can  best  ensure  the  proper  per- 
formance of  these  collective  tasks  of  peace,  in  a  spirit  of  jus- 
tice, of  generosity,  and  of  mutual  understanding,  if  the 
young  men  of  this  nation,  on  their  entry  to  manhood,  are 
trained  as  I  have  advocated. 

Military  preparedness  is  only  the  foundation  of,  and 
safeguard  for,  social  and  industrial  preparedness;  and 
therefore,  for  the  effort  to  increase  our  individual  efficiency 
and  at  the  same  time  to  see  that  the  fruits  of  this  efficiency 
are  divided  with  reasonable  fairness  and  justice. 

Federal  Civil  Service  Debauched 

Mr.  Wilson  recently  said  that  the  supporters  of  Mr. 
Hughes  included  incongruous  elements.  The  Democratic 
Party,  with  Mr.  Wilson  at  its  head,  is  itself  composed  of 
utterly  conflicting  elements  with  no  sincere  bond  of  union 
except  the  desire  to  secure  Federal  office.  In  consequence 
the  internal  legislation  Mr.  Wilson  has  obtained  has  had 
to  be  obtained  by  the  exchange  of  offices  for  congressional 


112  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

support ;  and,  as  a  result,  the  Federal  Civil  Service  has  been 
debauched  as  never  before,  and  Washington  has  witnessed 
the  worst  administration  of  the  executive  departments  we 
have  had  for  thirty  years.  If  specifications  are  needed,  1 
refer  you  to  the  statements  of  dispassionate,  non-partisan 
experts  in  administration,  such  men  as  Gifford  Pinchot, 
Lucius  Swift  and  William  Dudley  Foulke. 

There  are  certain  things  for  which  Mr.  Wilson  and  his 
party  claim  credit  where  credit  can  only  be  awarded  them 
by  emphasizing  the  duplicity  of  their  action.  The  banking 
law  is  a  good  law  in  certain  of  its  provisions;  but  these 
provisions  are  those  of  the  Aldrich  bill,  which  before  elec- 
tion the  Democrats  so  frantically  denounced.  They  de- 
nounced in  similar  manner  a  Tariff  Commission  and  an 
Industrial  Commission;  and  they  are  now  in  rather  im- 
potent fashion  feeling  after  both.  They  have  passed  a 
Child  Labor  law  (which  is  so  drawn,  however,  that  it  may 
be  utterly  ineffective)  after  Mr.  Wilson  had  emphatically 
declared  against  it.  They  champion  a  law  which  will  make 
the  needed  revival  of  our  shipping  by  private  enterprise 
more  difficult  than  ever.  Their  tariff  law  was  working  ruin 
to  our  industry  until  the  war  created  an  outside  tariff  m6re 
protective  than  any  we  have  ever  previously  had. 

Mr.  Wilson  has  endeavored  to  satisfy  both  the  profes- 
sional pacifists  and  the  men  desiring  preparedness,  by  per- 
suading each  side  that  he  stood  for  something  the  other  did 
not  want.  He  is  making  a  similar  effort  as  regards  labor 
and  business.  The  President  is  astute  and  farsighted  in 
his  management  of  politicians  for  party  and  personal  ends. 
He  believes  that  the  solid  South  will  vote  for  anything  with 
the  Democratic  label  wholly  without  regard  to  the  principle 
involved.  The  solid  South  is  ultra-conservative;  but  inas- 
much as  in  the  South  the  negro  and  the  poor  white  laborer 
are  both  of  them  unorganized,  an  appeal  to  the  class  fol- 
lowers of  trades  unionism  in  the  North  does  not  disturb 
Mr.  Wilson's  power  in  the  South.  In  consequence  the 
Democratic  Party  under  Mr.  Wilson's  leadership  seeks  to 
develop  as  a  radical  labor  party  in  the  North,  so  as  there  to 
capitalize  the  labor  vote,  while  remaining  reactionary  in  the 
South,  and  endeavoring  to  reassure  the  big  money  interests 


Preparedness:  Military,  Industrial  and  Spiritual     113 

because  of  what  the  South  can  do  in  national  matters.  The 
result  of  such  efforts  cannot  be  for  the  ultimate  good  of  the 
nation;  but  it  is  naturally  attractive  to  politicians  who 
think  only  of  the  moment's  success. 

On  the  other  hand,  we  who  are  opposed  to  Mr.  Wilson 
have  a  more  difficult  task,  because  we  in  good  faith  seek 
real  solutions  for  our  economic  and  social  problems.  We 
believe  in  organization.  We  understand  the  great  value  of 
corporate  activities.  We  believe  in  enterprise  and  leader- 
ship. We  do  not  appeal  to  envy  and  class  antagonism  as 
the  Democrats  under  Mr.  Wilson's  leadership  have  done — 
for  although  Mr.  Wilson  was  first  schooled  for  the  political 
race  as  a  conservative  who  was  to  take  advantage  of  the 
reaction  against  a  wise  radicalism,  he  promptly  abandoned 
his  former  friends  when  he  got  into  politics,  and  now  stands 
as  the  champion  of  an  unwise  radicalism  in  those  localities 
where  he  does  not  stand  for  mere  bourbonism. 

The  Lack  of  Constructive  Policy 

The  absolute  lack  of  any  constructive  policy  in  Mr. 
Wilson's  leadership  comes  out  strikingly  in  his  attitude 
toward  business.  His  platform  pledges,  of  course,  amount 
to  nothing  on  this  point,  or  for  that  matter  on  any  other 
point,  but  as  far  as  they  went  they  committed  him,  as  did 
his  promises,  to  the  breaking  up  of  all  corporations,  and 
the  reintroduction  of  old-fashioned,  ruthless,  competitive 
methods  in  business — methods  such  as  obtained  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  last  century.  We  were  promised  explicitly,  four 
years  ago,  in  the  Democratic  platform,  and  by  the  Demo- 
cratic orators  on  the  stump,  that  they  would  destroy  all 
trusts  by  the  utilization  of  the  Sherman  Law,  and  a  tariff 
for  revenue  only,  and  would  thereby  lower  prices  and  the 
cost  of  living.  But  prices  and  the  cost  of  living  have  steadily 
gone  up  and  Mr.  Wilson  has  not  invoked  the  Sherman  Law 
against  any  big  trust.  The  Sherman  Law  is  on  the  books. 
It  was  a  dead  letter  fourteen  years  ago.  It  became  a  live  law 
only  because  of  the  success  of  the  Northern  Securities  Suit; 
This  suit  established  the  vitally  necessary  principle  that  the 
national  government  had  complete  control  over  interstate 
business ;  but  the  establishment  of  this  principle  was  about 


114  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

all  of  any  real  use  that  was  achieved  under  the  Sherman 
Law.  Great  and  important  suits  were  won  under  it  prior  to 
Mr.  Wilson's  taking  office;  but  the  poor  effects,  or  rather, 
non-effects,  of  these  suits  have  shown  that  the  Sherman 
Law  offered  no  real  method  of  doing  away  with  the  evils  of 
corporate  activities,  while  yet  retaining  what  was  good. 
There  must  be  a  totally  different  method  of  dealing  with 
the  problem.  The  case  was  admirably  put  by  Mr.  Hughes 
in  his  reply  to  Mr.  Bryan  on  September  5th,  1908,  when 
after  a  merciless  dissection  of  Mr.  Bryan's  own  proposals, 
he  stated  what  our  aim  should  be,  as  follows : 

"It  is  the  function  of  law  to  define  and  punish  wrong- 
doing, and  not  to  throttle  business.  In  the  fields  of  in- 
dustrial activity  the  need  is  that  trade  should  be  fair;  that 
unjust  discrimination  and  illegal  allowances  giving  prefer- 
ential access  to  markets  should  be  prevented;  that  coercive 
combinations  and  improper  practices  to  stifle  competition 
should  be  dealt  with  regardless  of  individuals;  but  that 
honest  industry,  obtaining  success  upon  its  merits,  denying 
no  unjust  opportunity  to  its  competitors,  should  not  be  put 
under  prohibitions  which  mingle  the  innocent  and  the  guilty 
in  a  common  condemnation." 

In  other  words,  we  believe  in  constructive  regulation 
to  free  legitimate  business  from  confusion,  uncertainty  and 
fruitless  litigation;  while  by  means  of  a  strong  Federal 
administrative  commission  we  prevent  false  capitalization, 
special  privilege  and  unfair  competition,  including  all  un- 
fair trade  practices,  such  as  agreements  to  limit  output, 
refusing  to  sell  to  customers  who  buy  from  business  rivals, 
using  the  power  of  transportation  to  aid  or  injure  special 
business  concerns,  and  the  like.  We  do  not  fear  commercial 
power,  but  we  desire  that  it  be  exercised  openly  under 
efficient  publicity,  supervision  and  regulation.  Together 
with  such  regulation  and  management  of  business  we  be- 
lieve in  effective  legislation  looking  to  the  prevention  of 
industrial  accidents,  occupational  diseases,  overwork,  and 
involuntary  unemployment;  to  the  enforcing  of  minimum 
safety  and  health  standards  by  means  of  the  Federal  con- 
trol over  interstate  commerce  and  the  taxing  power;  secur- 
ing an  effective  prohibition  of  child  labor  (in  my  judg- 


Preparedness:  Military,  Industrial  and  Spiritual     115 

ment,  preferably  by  the  use  of  the  taxing  power)  ;  securing 
a  living  wage  and  an  eight-hour  day  for  working  women, 
one  day's  rest  in  seven  and  the  eight-hour  day  in  continuous 
industry,  and  other  such  measures. 

President  Wilson  has  made  no  effort  whatever  to  en- 
force the  Sherman  Law.  Neither  has  he  made  any  effort  to 
change  it.  In  one  of  his  speeches  he  used  a  sentence  which 
seemed  to  indicate  that  he  regards  the  Federal  Trade  Com- 
mission as  having  the  power  to  modify  the  Sherman  Law.  If 
this  is  what  he  meant,  it  is  certainly  not  in  accordance  with 
the  facts.  Mr.  Wilson  is,  however,  a  master  of  subtle  in- 
direction in  speech,  and  this  sentence,  like  so  many  of  his 
other  sentences,  is  perhaps  susceptible  of  several  different 
interpretations.  In  any  event,  neither  he  nor  any  one  else 
can  point  out  wherein  the  Federal  Trade  Commission  has 
the  power  to  modify  the  Sherman  Law;  or  wherein  the 
Sherman  Law  has  been  in  any  way  changed  by  any  legisla- 
tion since  he  has  been  in  office.  He  has  not  enforced  it,  but 
neither  has  he  secured  any  modification  of  it.  Unques- 
tionably he  should  have  followed  either  one  course  or  the 
other.  The  only  certainty  about  the  Sherman  Law,  espe- 
cially in  view  of  the  conflicting  decisions  in  the  lower  courts 
as  regards  the  Harvester  Company  and  the  Keystone  Watch 
Case  Company,  is  that  its  interpretation  is  surrounded  by 
absolute  uncertainty.  But  if  Mr.  Wilson's  words  about  it 
mean  anything — a  rather  wild  supposition  on  my  part,  I 
admit — they  mean  that  this  law  stands  against  modern  co- 
operative methods. 

At  any  rate,  either  the  law  is  good,  in  which  case  it 
should  be  enforced  everywhere,  or  else  it  is  not  good,  in 
which  case  it  should  be  modified  to  whatever  degree  is  nec- 
essary in  order  to  make  it  efficient  against  dishonest  busi- 
ness and  no  longer  a  threat  to  honest  business.  Mr.  Wil- 
son has  adroity  avoided  doing  anything  one  way  or  the 
other.  He  has  left  the  law  sleeping  on  the  statute  books, 
but  liable  to  be  revived  against  all  business,  good  and  bad 
alike,  at  any  moment.  He  has  left  all  of  the  dangers  and 
difficulties  just  exactly  where  they  were  before.  He  and 
his  party  have  done  nothing  to  protect  the  people  from  the 
evils  in  business  of  \vhich,  they  have  been  complaining; 


116  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

nothing  to  prevent  over-capitalization,  or  stock  watering  or 
any  other  evil  practice.  In  all  of  Mr.  Wilson's  utterances 
put  together  there  is  not  one  touch  of  the  constructive 
statesmanship  shown  by  Mr.  Hughes  in  the  single  quotation 
above  given. 

Mr.  Wilson,  before  election,  announced  that  the  trusts 
must  be  destroyed  by  state  action.  As  Governor,  of  New 
Jersey  he  secured  the  passage  of  the  "seven  little  sisters" 
bills,  which  he  asserted  would  put  a  stop  to  the  evils  of  the 
trusts.  They  have  not  done  so  in  even  the  smallest  degree. 
The  evils  of  the  corporate  system  in  the  United  States  have 
been  left  absolutely  unchanged  and  unremedied  by  anything 
that  Mr.  Wilson  has  done  either  as  Governor  of  New  Jersey 
or  as  President  of  the  United  States. 

Mr.  Wilson  and  World  Trade 

Nor  is  this  all.  Mr.  Wilson  has  recently  announced 
his  desire,  or,  as  he  has  put  it,  his  "dream,"  that  the  United 
States  shall  "take  her  place  in  the  great  field  of  world 
trade."  He  has  been  appealing  for  the  business  vote  by 
pointing  out  an  alluring  picture  of  the  advantages  and 
opportunities  that  foreign  markets  will  soon  offer.  In  his 
recent  Omaha  speech  he  said  that  we  must  "finance  some 
of  the  chief  undertakings  of  the  world  for  ourselves." 
These  words  mean  less  than  nothing  so  long  as  Mr.  Wilson 
stands  by  his  other  words,  uttered  by  himself  and  by  his 
Secretary  of  State,  announcing  that  American  business 
men  who  went  into  Mexico  did  so  at  their  own  risk,  and 
that  he  had  no  sympathy  for  them  after  they  went;  and 
that  he  would  not  try  to  protect  them  in  their  investments. 
Mr.  Wilson  never  used  weasel  words  of  more  significance 
than  those  two  statements.  Either  his  statement  that  we 
must  "finance  some  of  the  chief  undertakings  of  the  world 
for  ourselves"  weasels  all  the  honesty  out  of  his  statement 
that  he  is  not  interested  in,  and  will  not  protect,  American 
dollars  in  Mexico,  which  means,  "the  financing  of  some  of 
the  chief  undertakings"  of  Mexico  by  Americans ;  or  else 
the  latter  sentence  weasels  all  meaning  out  of  the  first. 
Mr.  Wilson  has  the  right  to  say  which  of  these  two  state- 
ments is  the  weasel,  and  which  is  the  egg;  but  he  cannot 


Preparedness:  Military,  Industrial  and  Spiritual     117 

deny  that  the  relation  between  them  is  strictly  that  of  the 
weasel  and  the  egg.  Mr.  Wilson  has  said  that  he  will  fur- 
nish no  protection  to  the  business  men  who  have  made  in- 
vestments in  Mexico;  and  for  once  his  conduct  on  this 
point  has  made  his  words  good,  for  he  has  not  protected 
any  man  in  Mexico,  whether  workingman,  miner  or  rancher. 
Now,  the  country  is  entitled  to  know  whether  he  really 
intends  to  reverse  himself  on  this  policy  so  far  as  countries 
outside  of  Mexico  are  concerned;  and  if  so,  why;  and  just 
what  measure  of  protection  he  contemplates  furnishing 
those  business  men  who  accept  his  rather  dangerous  invita- 
tion. The  plainest  construction  of  honesty  and  sincerity 
demands  that  he  either  reverse  his  Mexican  policy  or  else 
announce  that  the  only  safe  course  for  American  business 
men  in  the  future  lies  in  avoiding  the  effort  "to  finance," 
or  having  any  connection  with,  "the  chief  undertakings  of 
the  world"  outside  of  the  United  States.  There  is  no 
middle  ground.  I  put  this  direct  question  to  Mr.  Wilson: 
Which  of  these  positions  does  he  take?  Either  he  does 
not  stand  on  his  Mexican  record,  in  which  case  he  ought 
to  admit  the  hideous  and  lamentable  blunder  of  his  whole 
Mexican  policy  for  the  last  three  and  a  half  years;  or  else 
he  does  stand  on  his  Mexican  record,  and  if  so  his  asking 
American  business  men  to  go  into  foreign  markets  is  down- 
right hypocrisy.  If  Mr.  Wilson  will,  not  by  subtle  and 
adroit  evasion,  but  with  downright  straightforwardness, 
attempt  to  answer  this  question,  I  believe  he  will  find  the 
attempt  very  stimulating  to  what  he  calls  his  "intellectual 
processes." 

The  Proper  Aim 

So  much  for  Mr.  Wilson  and  the  Democratic  Party. 
Now  for  ourselves.  We  who  believe  in  protecting  the 
legitimate  interests  of  business  men,  in  encouraging  the 
great  corporate  instruments  necessary  for  carrying  on 
modern  business,  and  in  rewarding  enterprises  and  leader- 
ship, must  do  all  this  for  the  very  reason  that  we  treat  as 
of  first  importance  the  needs  of  labor.  Our  aim  is  to 
secure  the  maximum  of  good  result  for  the  average  man, 
for  the  ordinary,  decent,  hard-working  citizen.  He  is  the 
man  whom  we  have  primarily  in  mind.  The  successful 


118  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

business  man  is  entitled  to  justice  for  his  own  sake;  and 
moreover  unless  we  grant  him  such  justice  we  can  do 
nothing  for  anyone  else;  but  unless  his  profit  is  shared  by 
farmer  and  workingman,  by  the  ordinary  man  generally, 
our  prime  object  is  not  achieved.  We  must  see  the  cor- 
porate viewpoint;  but  we  must  see  very  much  more  than 
the  corporate  viewpoint.  We  must  not  offer  to  labor  such 
empty  solutions  as  are  contained  in  the  "New  Freedom," — 
which  in  practice  is  merely  the  old,  old  freedom  of  the 
strong  to  prey  on  the  weak — or  in  the  chance  to  coerce 
capital  by  sinister  and  improper  action  tending  to  the 
limitation  of  output.  We  must  correlate  the  demand  for 
the  enjoyment  of  rights  with  the  sense  of  obligation  fully 
to  perform  duties.  We  must  raise,  collectively  and  indi- 
vidually, our  industrial  standard.  We  must  develop  the 
power  of  self-help ;  and  we  must  supplement  this  power  by 
the  wise  use  of  governmental  power.  We  must  ourselves  or- 
ganize, and  furnish  the  use  of,  satisfactory  state  and  na- 
tional governmental  machinery  to  accomplish  those  things 
that  labor  cannot  accomplish  for  itself — and  which  it  some- 
times attempts  to  accomplish  in  ways  that  would  be  de- 
structive to  itself  and  to  all  of  us.  Bismarck  carried  such  a 
programme  through  in  Germany,  with  the  result  that  Ger- 
many has  achieved  a  literally  phenomenal  industrial  success, 
together  with  an  exceptionally  high  standard  of  average 
well-being.  He  deliberately  undertook  to  better  the  condi- 
tions of  industrial  and  social  life,  not  by  adding  to  the  cost  of 
production,  but  by  eliminating  waste  and  introducing  scien- 
tific— that  is,  rational,  skillful  and  efficient — principles  into 
the  work  of  production  and  of  distribution.  It  was  one 
prime  object  of  his  policy  to  see  that  business  was  success- 
ful, and  business  men  of  leadership  rewarded;  for  other- 
wise the  community  would  either  stagnate  or  go  backward, 
and  nobody  would  get  any  reward  at  all.  But  it  was  also 
with  him  a  prime  object  to  secure  for  the  wageworkers 
their  legitimate  share  of  the  benefits,  not  only  in  wages, 
but  in  standard  of  living  and  in  such  ways  as  sickness  in- 
surance, old-age  pensions,  and  the  like.  Germany  is  in- 
finitely ahead  of  us  in  all  of  these  matters.  Germany  g^ives 
better  care,  at  less  cost,  to  the  workingman,  in  health  and 


Preparedness:  Military,  Industrial  and  Spiritual     119 

in  sickness,  by  her  system  of  organization  under  govern- 
ment direction,  and  of  organization  by  perfected  private 
co-operation,  than  we  do  by  our  unregulated  individualism. 
Under  our  system  the  workingman  gets  but  one-third  of 
what  the  German  workingman  gets  in  such  a  matter  as 
compensation  for  injury.  England  is  not  so  far  ahead  of 
us  as  Germany  is.  But  even  England's  co-operative  so- 
cieties are  immensely  ahead  of  ours.  In  Denmark,  and 
elsewhere  on  the  Continent,  the  farmers'  co-operative  or- 
ganizations have  eliminated  to  an  extraordinary  degree  the 
waste  in  the  market. 

National  Life  Must  Be  Reshaped 

Neither  demagogues  nor  doctrinarians  can  do  such 
work,  and  least  of  all  can  it  be  done  by  the  bitter  preachers 
of  class  hatred.  But  mere  tory  obstructionists  must  not 
be  permitted  to  stand  in  the  way.  Our  strongest  and  ablest 
men  are  needed  to  give  the  lead  in  securing  such  national 
organization.  We  must  apply  under  modern  industrial 
conditions  a  programme  that  will  lead  to  the  fullest  pos- 
sible life  for  the  great  mass  of  our  people.  The  very 
structure  of  our  national  life  must'  be  reshaped  to  meet  the 
vast  new  needs,  and  it  can  best  be  remade  in  desirable 
fashion  if  the  leadership  is  furnished  by  men  of  affairs  who 
understand  that,  while  they  must  themselves  be  encouraged 
and  aided  by  the  government,  the  encouragement  and  aid 
must  be  given  on  the  condition  of  their  helping  to  reshape  a 
nationalized  United  States  in  such  fashion  that  the  farmers 
and  wageworkers  and  ordinary  business  and  professional 
men  shall  have  their  full  share  of  the  benefits.  Our  people 
generally  must  be  made  to  feel  that  they  share  in  the  re- 
wards of  our  world  trade,  so  that  it  may  be  obviously  to 
their  interests  to  support  a  self-respecting  and  vigorous 
policy  in  international  affairs,  and  to  accept  the  discipline 
and  duty  of  universal  service.  The  wise  employers  must 
realize  in  the  future  that  the  productive  power  of  our  fac- 
tories will  ultimately  depend  upon  the  well-being  no  less 
than  upon  the  zeal  and  good  faith  of  our  workers ;  and  the 
education  of  our  children  along  cultural  and  vocational  lines 
must  be  so  handled  as  to  give  us  a  trained,  disciplined  and 


120  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

efficient  manhood  and  womanhood.  Our  business  men  must 
co-operate  heartily  in  the  effort  to  secure  statesmanlike 
leadership  in  support  of  the  great  programme  of  reconstruc- 
tion in  our  nation,  a  programme  in  many  respects  such  as 
that  laid  down  by,  Bismarck  when  he  organized  the  internal 
forces  of  his  own  nation.  When  this  war  is  closed  the  ques- 
tions of  social  and  industrial  justice  will  come  more  strongly 
to  the  front  than  ever  before,  because  this  war  will  have 
turned  the  European  States  into  communities  more  modern 
than  we  ourselves  are  now.  After  this  war,  if  we  do  not 
face  the  new  conditions,  we  shall  be  the  Old  World,  and 
Europe  the  New  World. 

The  adroit  demagogy  of  the  Democratic  leaders  offers 
worse  than  no  solution  of  the  problems  affecting  us.  It  be- 
hooves sincere  and  sane  men  of  vision  to  do  their  part  in 
offering  a  constructive  programme.  This  programme  must 
not  aim  at  the  destruction  of  business  to  gratify  envy,  nor 
at  the  diminution  of  the  efficiency  of  labor  in  a  spirit  of  nar- 
row and  bitter  ignorance.  It  must  seek  to  expand  and  re- 
ward business;  it  must  seek  to  increase  the  efficiency  and 
the  output  of  labor ;  but  it  must  also  secure  for  labor  its  full 
share  in  the  reward.  Business  can  not  permanently  flourish 
unless  the  wageworkers  and  the  farmers  have  ample  op- 
portunity to  share  in  the  rewards  of  our  national  effort. 

Remember  always  this  effort  to  secure  for  each  man 
his  rights  will  be  a  failure  unless  at  the  same  time  we 
insist  upon  the  full  performance  of  duty  by  each.  Neither 
farmers,  laborers,  nor  business  men  deserve  any  considera- 
tion for  their  rights  save  in  so  far  as  they  fully  and  whole- 
heartedly recognize  their  duties  to  the  State  and  to  their 
fellows,  and  perform  these  duties. 


TRUE  AMERICANISM  AND  NATIONAL 
DEFENSE 

Chicago,  Illinois,  October  26,  1916 


rpHERE  are  many  things  this  nation  needs,  but  the  two 
1  vital  things  are,  first,  that  it  shall  be  a  nation  and,  sec- 
ond, that  it  shall  prepare  itself  in  soul  and  body  so  that  by 
its  own  strength  it  may  guarantee  to  continue  to  be  a  na- 
tion. The  reason  that  we  hold  Washington  and  Lincoln 
incomparably  above  all  other  Americans  is  that  the  great- 
ness of  one  was  shown  in  making  this  people  a  nation,  and 
the  greatness  of  the  other  in  keeping  it  alive  as  a  nation. 
In  other  words,  the  most  vital  of  all  issues  are  those  of 
Americanism  and  Preparedness;  and  of  these  two  Ameri- 
canism must  come  first,  for  there  is  no  use  to  prepare  to 
defend  or  uphold  the  American  nation  unless  there  is  an 
American  nation  to  defend  and  uphold. 

We  may  just  as  well  definitely  face  the  fact  that  no  man 
can  ever  be  a  good  American,  no  man  can  ever  be  a  really 
first-class  citizen  of  the  United  States  unless  he  is  an  Amer- 
ican and  nothing  else.  Recent  events  have  shown  us  that  the 
effort  to  combine  loyalty  to  this  land  with  loyalty  to  any 
other  can  only  result  in  weakening  the  loyalty  to  this  coun- 
try. Washington  and  Lincoln  were  of  English  descent,  but 
they  were  not  English-Americans.  Their  loyalty  was  undi- 
videdly  and  whole-hearted  to  the  United  States  and  to  all  of 
the  people  of  the  United  States  in  every  part  thereof.  In  in- 
ternational relations  they  judged  England  precisely  as  they 
judged  all  other  nations ;  that  is,  in  any  given  crisis  they 
judged  every  foreign  nation  exactly  in  accordance  with  its 
conduct  in  that  crisis ;  they  were  as  incapable  of  the  mean- 
ness of  unreasoning  malice  and  hatred  towards  any  par- 
ticular nation  as  of  the  meanness  of  truckling  to  it  and  mak- 
ing its  interests  superior  to  our  own.  They  set  the  standard 
of  Americanism  which  all  of  our  citizens  should  follow  in 

121 


122  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

their  relations  with  one  another,  in  their  attitude  toward 
their  own  country,  and  in  their  attitude  toward  each  and  all 
foreign  nations. 

Americanism  a  Matter  of  the  Soul 

When  I  was  a  boy  I  received  my  first  guidance  in  poli- 
tics through  the  cartoons  of  that  famous  American  cartoon- 
ist, Thomas  Nast.  There  never  was  sounder  Americanism 
preached  than  by  Nast.  His  cartoons  dramatized  for  us  of 
that  time  the  hideousness  of  political  corruption,  and  the 
equal  hideousness  of  political  demagogy.  They  dramatized 
for  us,  when  I  was  a  boy,  the  cruel  injustice  with  which  our 
public  men  too  often  treated  the  Army  and  Navy  of  the 
United  States ;  indeed,  it  was  he  who  first  gave  me  the  feel- 
ing of  eager  championship  of  the  Army  and  Navy  which  I 
have  ever  since  retained.  It  was  an  education  in  American 
patriotism  for  any  boy  or  young  man  to  study  and  follow  the 
cartoons  of  Nast,  as  I  and  my  fellows  studied  them  forty 
years  ago.  Tom  Nast  was  born  in  Germany,  but  he  was  no 
more  a  German-American  than  Lincoln  was  an  English- 
American,  or  Grant  a  Scotch-American,  or  Phil  Sheridan  an 
Irish-American.  Grant  to  an  especial  degree  was  his  hero; 
and  Grant  once  remarked  that  among  civilians  not  holding 
public  office  no  other  man  in  the  country  had  done  as  much 
for  this  nation  as  Tom  Nast.  The  two  men  worked  together 
in  this  fashion,  precisely  because  each  was  an  American  and' 
nothing  but  an  American.  They  looked  at  all  our  domestic 
questions,  and  they  looked  at  all  our  foreign  questions,  from 
the  American  standpoint  and  from  no  other. 

Later  in  life,  when  I  was  Police  Commissioner  in  New 
York — not  a  silk  stocking  job,  by  the  way — the  man  who 
was  closest  to  me  was  Jacob  Riis.  He  was  by  birth  a  Dane, 
but  he  was  an  American  and  nothing  else.  His  loyalty  to 
this  country  was  undivided,  and  no  man  within  our  borders 
rendered  more  useful  service,  both  to  its  body  and  to  its 
soul.  I  could  multiply  such  instances  indefinitely.  I  men- 
tion these  particular  men  only  because  I  wish  you  to  visual- 
ize just  what  I  mean  when  I  speak  of  Americanism.  It 
does  not  depend  upon  the  man's  birthplace,  it  does  not  de- 
pend upon  the  man's  creed.  It  does  depend  upon  the  man's 


True  Americanism  and  National  Defense  123 

soul,  and  upon  his  possession  of  single-minded  and  whole- 
hearted loyalty  to  this  country  of  ours. 

Moral  Treason  to  the  Republic 

To  divide  our  citizens  along  politico-racial  lines  is  to  be 
guilty  of  moral  treason  to  the  Republic.  I  have  condemned 
unstintedly,  and  shall  continue  to  condemn,  any  effort  by  the 
professional  German-Americans  to  shape  our  politics  in  the 
interests,  not  of  the  United  States,  but  of  Germany;  and  [ 
would  just  as  strongly  condemn  any  effort  to  organize  any 
of  our  citizens  as  English-Americans,  or  French-Americans, 
or  Irish-Americans  for  or  against  any  foreign  power.  It  is 
our  business  now,  as  it  was  in  the  days  of  Washington,  to 
treat  each  and  every  foreign  nation  in  any  given  crisis  ac- 
cording to  that  nation's  conduct  in  that  crisis,  guiding  our- 
selves by  but  two  considerations:  first,  the  honor  and  wel- 
fare of  the  United  States,  and,  second,  the  interests  of  hu- 
manity as  a  whole.  To  follow  any  other  course  is  to  be  dis- 
loyal to  this  country.  To  hold  for  this  country  only  a  half 
allegiance  is  in  reality  to  be  hostile  to  this  country;  for  in 
practice  when  the  crisis  comes  the  man  whose  loyalty  is 
on  a  fifty-fifty  basis  between  this  country  and  some  other 
always  shows  that  his  loyalty  to  the  other  country  comes 
first.  There  is  no  room  in  this  country  for  the  perpetuation 
of  *  different  nationalities.  Unless  we  succeed  in  fusing 
all  of  our  people  into  one  thoroughgoing  American  citizen- 
ship, into  one  American  type,  it  is  as  certain  as  fate  that 
this  nation  will  in  the  end  be  shattered  into  fragments.  If 
we  are  content  to  remain  or  become  a  conglomerate  of  many 
different  nationalities,  each  holding  apart  from  its  fellows, 
each  with  its  real  devotions  and  ideals  in  some  spot  over- 
seas, and  all  united  only  as  dollar  hunters  who  live  in  the 
same  boarding-house  are  united,  we  shall  never  really  be  a 
nation  at  all.  And,  my  fellow  citizens,  remehiber  that  if  such 
be  the  case,  every  individual  in  this  nation  will  suffer  in  con- 
sequence. We  can  not  attain  our  full  stature  as  men  except 
'as  we  attain  it  through  our  common  American  nationality, 
and  this  is  true  of  our  political,  our  social,  our  literary  and 
artistic  life. 

The  modern  man  can  accomplish  but  little  singly,  as  an 


124  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

individual.  He  can  attain  a  broad  life  only  if  he  is  a  citizen 
of  a  great  nation.  As  in  the  days  of  St.  Paul,  it  is  today 
important  to  be  a  "citizen  of  no  mean  city."  The  advantages 
of  modern  science  and  modern  tools,  and  of  a  great  litera- 
ture, and  art,  can  be  secured  only  as  we  stand  together 
clasping  the  hands  of  our  fellow  citizens  in  a  common  loy- 
alty to  our  nation.  The  strength,  and  effectiveness  of  a 
nation,  in  its  domestic  affairs  and  in  its  international  rela- 
tions, are  dependent  primarily  upon  national  solidarity  and 
the  loyalty  and  patriotism  with  which  each  individual  is 
united  to  his  fellows  in  their  devotion  to  the  flag  which 
symbolizes  this  common  country. 

It  is  not  really  open  to  our  people  to  remain  representa- 
tives in  good  standing  of  the  Old  World  countries  from  which 
they  or  their  forefathers  sprang.  If  they  make  the  attempt 
they  merely  become  second-rate  transplanted  Germans  or 
Englishmen  or  Frenchmen,  as  the  case  may  be ;  and  the  Ger- 
mans, Englishmen  or  Frenchmen  of  the  Old  World,  in  their 
hearts,  cordially  despise  and  look  down  on  these  transplanted 
aliens,  even  though  they  make  sinister  use  of  them  against 
the  United  States. 

Allegiance  Must  Be  Undivided 

The  only  way  for  all  of  us,  or  for  any  of  us,  to  achieve 
our  own  self-respect,  and  to  deserve  and  win  the  respect  of 
other  nations,  is  by  becoming  Americans  and  nothing  else. 
I  ask  those  who  believe  that  any  other  course  is  compatible 
with  genuine  loyalty  to  this  country  to  read  the  letter  from 
Professor  Munsterberg  of  Harvard  to  Chancellor  Bethman 
Hollweg,  published  in  the  New  York  Times  of  Oct.  10th.  I 
grieved  to  see  this  letter;  for  Professor  Munsterberg  has 
long  been  my  friend  whom  I  have  liked  and  respected;  he 
has  given  much  advice  to  Americans ;  and  it  was  a  matter  of 
genuine  regret  to  me  to  see  this  proof  that  he  treated  the 
well-being  of  America  as  negligible  compared  to  the  inter- 
ests of  Germany.  In  his  letter  he  spoke  of  his  purpose  to 
aid  Mr.  Wilson,  in  view  of  the  desirability  of  Mr.  Wilson's 
offering  himself  as  a  mediator,  in  the  furtherance  of  Ger- 
many's plans.  His  eulogy  of  Mr.  Wilson  as  a  peace  arbi- 
trator, however,  has  in  it  a  touch  of  wholly  unconscious 


True  Americanism  and  National  Defense  125 

humor.  He  says :  "If  he  once  works  himself  into  the  idea  of 
being  the  arbitrator  of  the  world  he  will  be  so  intoxicated  by 
the  joy  of  playing  a  historic  part  that  he  will  give  himself 
up  to  it  with  his  whole  soul  and  without  rest.  He  will  re- 
main strictly  neutral,  less  out  of  moral  conscientiousness 
than  from  an  aesthetic  pleasure  in  his  unique  role."  He 
then  explains  why  in  the  interest  of  Germany,  not  the  United 
States,  he  supports  Mr.  Wilson  as  mediator,  and  the  paci- 
fist, peace-at-any-price  crowd,  saying  in  part :  "I  hold  it  now 
to  be  my  chief  task  here  to  encourage  the  pacifist  sentiment 
now  abroad,  and  so  my  main  work  consists  in  continually 
writing  new  essays  and  articles  in  favor  of  the  preservation 
of  peace  and  of  Wilson's  reputation  as  a  mediator.  All  this 
peace  material  naturally  appears  without  my  name.  Un- 
fortunately, the  peace  call  which  Bryan  was  going  to  issue 
has  found  its  way  into  the  papers  too  soon."  He  then  re- 
gretfully asserts  that  "it  can  not  be  denied  that  the  Ger- 
man-American cause  has  suffered  a  most  unexpected  slump 
.  .  .  German-Americans  of  all  classes  are  suddenly  en- 
deavoring to  accentuate  their  American  tendencies — the 
patriotic  wave  has  siuept  all  the  weaker  elements  along  with 
it!"  The  italics  of  this  last  astounding  sentence  are  my  own. 
Dr.  Munsterberg  then  continues  by  complaining  that  so 
many  German- Americans  are  beginning  to  shape  their  policy 
"in  America's,  not  Germany's,  interest." 

Two  things  are  notable  in  this  letter.  The  first  is  that 
Dr.  Munsterberg  is  using  his  position  in  America  to  serve 
Germany,  without  regard  to  whether  such  service  hurts  or 
harms  America.  The  second  is  something  for  which  we 
must  all  feel  devoutly  grateful ;  for  by  the  best  possible  tes- 
timony, that  of  an  adverse  and  unwilling  witness,  Dr.  Mun- 
sterberg shows  that  the  professional  German- Americans  who 
put  Germany  above  America  can  not  carry  with  them  the 
mass  of  Americans  of  German  descent,  who,  .on  the  contrary, 
when  a  crisis  comes,  are  swept  "by  a  patriotic  wave,"  and 
act  "in  America's,  not  Germany's,  interest."  It  is  a  tribute 
which  I  am  sure  that  the  immense  majority  of  American 
citizens  of  German  descent  richly  deserve.  And  the  letter 
itself  shows  the  absolute  impossibility  of  successfully  serv- 
ing two  masters.  No  man  can  be  either,  both  an  English- 


126  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

man  and  an  American,  or  both  a  German  and  an  American. 
In  each  case  he  must  be  one  or  the  other.  No  American  is  a 
good  American  unless  he  is  absolutely  undivided  in  his 
loyalty  and  allegiance,  in  word,  deed,  thought  and  spirit,  to 
the  United  States. 

Americanism  is  the  first  essential.  Readiness  for  na- 
tional defense  is  the  second.  At  Denver  I  went  over  in  detail 
what  should  be  done  from  the  military  standpoint.  To-day 
I  wish  to  discuss  Mr.  Wilson's  handling  of  the  Navy. 

Nine-tenths  of  Wisdom  Is  Being  Wise  in  Time 

In  any  matter  where  the  man  who  criticises  another 
has  himself  held  the  same  office,  it  is  right  that  the  critic's 
record  should  be  compared  with  his  criticisms,  so  that  his 
deeds  and  his  words  may  be  judged  together.  I  ask  you 
to  remember  that  while  I  was  President,  in  a  message  to 
Congress  I  held  up  to  this  nation  as  the  model  for  action  in  a 
democracy  the  Swiss  and  Australian  systems  for  universal 
military  training  for  the  young  men.  There  was  at  the  time 
no  disturbance  of  any  kind  that  demanded  an  increase  in 
our  regular  army;  and  I  confined  myself  as  regards  the 
regular  army  to  the  effort  to  make  it  more  efficient.  After 
the  failure  of  The  Hague  Convention  to  limit  the  size  of 
armaments  or  the  size  of  ships,  I  made  recommendations 
in  my  annual  message  of  Decejnber,  1907,  and  sent  a  special 
message  to  Congress  on  April  14th,  1908,  which,  as  state- 
ments of  national  and  international  needs  and  policies,  apply 
exactly  to-day.  In  these  messages  I  supported  the  plan  sub- 
mitted by  the  General  Board,  of  which  the  central  feature 
was  the  provision  of  four  super-dreadnought  battleships  a 
year.  If  these  recommendations  of  mine  had  been  acted 
upon  and  been  since  treated  as  a  settled  policy,  and  if  the 
navy  had  been  handled  as  it  was  then  handled,  our  strength 
would  now  be  such  that  there  would  be  no  fear  of  attack 
from  any  Old  World  power.  Last  spring,  after  three  years 
of  halting  and  folly,  President  Wilson  turned  a  character- 
istic somersault  and  under  the  pressure  of  public  opinion 
stood  for  substantially  the  same  program  for  which  I  stood 
nearly  nine  years  ago.  The  difference  is  that  he  was  wise 
after  the  event  and  I  before  the  event.  Nine-tenths  of  wis- 


True  Americanism  and  National  Defense  127 

dom  is  being  wise  in  time!  If  Mr.  Wilson  had  been  willing 
to  face  facts  when  the  great  war  broke  out,  and  when  even 
the  blindest  ought  to  have  been  able  to  read  the  awful  lesson 
written  in  blood  across  the  face  of  Europe,  our  navy  and 
army  would  now  be  in  such  shape  that,  in  the  hands  of  a 
resolute  man,  they  could  guarantee  our  safety.  This  is  not 
now  the  case,  and  on  President  Wilson's  shoulders  rests  the 
entire  responsibility  for  our  lamentable  failure. 

One  of  the  gravest  offenses  against  the  nation  which 
has  been  committed  by  President  Wilson  and  the  Democrats 
in  control  of  the  two  Houses  of  Congress  during  the  last  six 
years  has  been  the  handling  of  the  navy.  Seven  years  ago 
the  navy  had  reached  a  point  of  efficiency,  relatively  to  the 
other  nations  of  the  world,  never  before  attained.  In  1909 
there  was  no  other  navy  in  the  world  at  so  high  a  point  of 
efficiency  and  enthusiasm.  This  was  at  the  time  the  battle- 
fleet  returned  from  its  voyage  around  the  world,  an  event 
unparalleled  in  history,  a  feat  no  other  nation  had  ever  per- 
formed, a  feat  of  incalculable  service  to  this  country  alike 
from  the  standpoint  of  increasing  our  navy's  efficiency,  and 
from  the  standpoint  of  impressing  the  most  powerful  for- 
eign nations  with  the  fact  that  we  desired  to  show  friend- 
ship to  all,  but  that  we  were  ready  at  any  moment  to  defend 
our  rights  from  whatever  quarter  they  might  be  assailed. 
The  organization  of  the  Navy  Department  was  being  re- 
modeled under  a  commission  composed  of  Admiral  Mahan, 
Judge  Moody,  and  other  distinguished  men 'who  were  out- 
lining a  new  and  effective  plan  to  replace  the  antiquated  and 
vicious  bureau  system. 

Under  the  excellent  administration  of  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  Meyer  the  report  of  this  commission  was  carefully 
considered  and  confirmed,  and  a  good  beginning  was  made 
in  the  aide  system.  Congress  still  lagged  behind  the  Navy 
Department ;  nevertheless  it  continued  the  upbuilding  of  the 
navy.  But  when  in  1910  the  Democrats  secured  control  of 
Congress,  they  immediately  put  a  stop  to  the  further  building 
up  of  the  navy,  embarrassing  Mr.  Meyer's  administration 
and  preventing  the  fulfilment  of  his  plans. 


128  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

The  Navy  Brought  Into  Partisan  Politics 

Then  President  Wilson  was  elected,  and  he  appointed 
as  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  Mr.  Daniels,  a  gentleman  who,  I 
have  no  doubt,  is  of  amiable  private  character,  but  who  is 
without  one  single  qualification  for  his  task ;  and  whose  ap- 
pointment not  only  meant  that  President  Wilson  was  en- 
tirely ignorant  of  the  needs  of  the  navy  and  entirely  indif- 
ferent to  them,  but  also  that  the  navy,  in  his  view,  was  of 
no  consequence,  except  as  it  could  be  made  an  asset  in  un- 
worthy partisan  politics.  By  no  possibility  could  the  ap- 
pointment of  Mr.  Daniels  be  taken  to  mean  anything  else. 
It  has  borne  its  full  and  natural  fruit.  Mr.  Wilson  has  not 
only  appointed  and  retained  him  in  office  but  has  specifically 
endorsed  him.  It  is  Mr.  Wilson,  not  Mr.  Daniels,  who  is  ulti- 
mately responsible  for  every  shortcoming  in  our  naval,  as 
in  our  military  and  international,  policy. 

Politics  Preferred  to  Military  Principles 

The  acts  and  policies  of  the  Navy  Department  during 
the  past  three  years  have  shown  a  determination  on  the 
part  of  Mr.  Wilson's  Administration  to  subordinate  and 
ignore  efficient  professional  and  military  agencies  and  influ- 
ences, and  to  promote  in  every  department  afloat  and  ashore 
the  rule  of  injustice,  personal  fads  and  improper  political 
considerations  in  direct  opposition  to  sound  military  princi- 
ples. For  two  years  the  navy  was  not  even  permitted  to 
engage  in  the  fleet  maneuvers  and  fleet  target  practice  abso- 
lutely essential  to  its  efficiency,  and  it  was  only  the  storm 
of  public*  condemnation  that  forced  Mr.  Daniels  finally  to 
yield  to  the  professional  advice  which  he  had  previously 
ignored  and  permit  a  beginning  to  be  made  toward  restoring 
at  least  the  Atlantic  squadrons  to  something  resembling 
their  old  efficiency.  The  aide  system  established  in  order  to 
co-ordinate  the  bureaus  and  emphasize  purely  military  effi- 
ciency and  preparedness  was  gradually  abolished.  The 
aides  were  not  merely  ignored,  but  punished  when  they  en- 
deavored to  secure  action  on  vitally  important  service  mat- 
ters. The  conduct  of  the  Department  to  Admiral  Bradley 
Fiske  offers  the  most  striking  proof  of  this  fact.  Instead  of 
seeking  his  own  personal  comfort  and  profit  by  obsequiously 


True  Americanism  and  National  Defense  129 

bowing  to  the  men  in  political  control  of  the  navy,  Admiral 
Fiske  stood  loyally  and  unswervingly  for  the  interests  of  the 
service.  In  November,  1914,  he  wrote  a  really  pathetic  let- 
ter asking  for  action  on  the  very  points  that  subsequently 
met  with  the  approval  of  the  people  and  of  Congress,  as 
shown  in  the  bills  just  passed.  The  present  Administration 
now  claims  credit  for  passing  these  bills.  The  Administra- 
tion never  took  the  slightest  action  upon  them  until  forced 
to  do  so  by  the  people.  Admiral  Fiske's  letter  was  sup- 
pressed, and  was  only  published  seventeen  months  later  at 
the  request  of  the  Senate.  In  this  letter  the  Admiral  showed 
that  we  were  unprepared  and  deficient  in  training,  and  yet 
Mr.  Daniels,  although  thus  warned  and  given  opportunity 
to  learn,  in  his' annual  report  to  Congress  inverted  the  truth 
and  misled  the  people. 

The  administration  merely  followed  public  opinion, 
after  having  sedulously  tried  to  mislead  it ;  and  at  that  time 
not  merely  ignored  Admiral  Fiske's  letters,  but  drove  him 
from  the  Navy  Department.  His  persistent  attempts  to 
secure  attention  for  important  matters  submitted  by  the 
General  Board  met  with  repeated  failure,  and  on  at  least 
one  occasion  his  earnest  and  respectful  effort  to  get  proper 
consideration  for  subjects  vitally  necessary  for  the  well- 
being  of  the  navy  earned  him  a  severe  reprimand  and  per- 
sonal rebuff.  Throughout  the  first  three  years,  and  until 
the  growing  concern  and  weariness  of  the  people  showed 
that  it  was  no  longer  possible  wholly  to  deceive  them,  the 
Administration  never  brought  to  the  front  or  considered 
the  question  of  the  war  efficiency  or  battle  efficiency  of  the 
navy.  It  devoted  its  whole  time  to  considerations  of  per- 
sonal and  partisan  politics.  Officers  of  the  highest  standing, 
whose  letters  I  have  seen,  state  that  any  visitor  on  personal 
and  political  business,  any  man  with  private  ends  to  serve, 
whether  in  connection  with  supposed  labor  interests  or  sup- 
posed capitalistic  interests,  had  a  full  hearing  at  the  De- 
partment ;  but  the  men  with  the  welfare  of  the  navy  at  heart 
had  none.  Finally  the  Navy  Department  went  back  to  the 
Bureau  System,  which  all  of  the  best  naval  officers  for 
thirty  years  have  condemned  as  absolutely  impossible  under 
the  modern  conditions  of  war,  and  which  has  been  aban- 


130  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

doned  by  every  first-class  navy  in  the  world.  The  adminis- 
tration of  the  Navy  Department  was  left  in  the  hands  of 
the  Secretary  and  his  personal  appointees,  a  plan  which 
meant  the  personal  control  of  the  navy  by  civilian  poli- 
ticians, in  opposition  to  all  military  principles;  and  this 
was  done  with  the  full  and  hearty  backing  of  President 
Wilson.  The  very  points  where  there  has  been  improvement 
in  the  navy  have  been  in  cases  such  as  that  of  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  office  of  operations,  which  was  forced  through 
by  a  prominent  Congressional  leader  with  the  zealous  assist- 
ance of  Admiral  Fiske,  and  in  direct  opposition'  to  the  Navy 
Department.  The  Administration  opposed  military  control 
of  the  navy  yards,  and  sought  to  substitute  political  and 
civilian  influences  and  in  some  of  the  appointments  this 
result  has,  lamentably  for  the  navy,  been  achieved.  The 
retention  of  useless  navy  yards,  which  forms  one  of  the 
best  illustrations  of  pork  barrel  politics,  has  been  favored. 
Favoritism  and  unfairness  have  prevailed  in  handling  the 
personnel.  When  zealous  officers,  single-minded  in  their 
devotion  to  the  navy,  have  pointed  out  defects  for  improve- 
ment, they  have  in  turn  been  reprimanded,  and  this  whether 
the  man  concerned  was  at  the  head  of  the  submarines,  or 
was  an  admiral  who  had  to  do  with  the  management  of 
fleets.  It  is  only  under  the  flail  of  a  partially  aroused  public 
opinion  that  this  matter  has  been  in  a  measure  corrected 
during  the  last  nine  months. 

Such  Official  Tyranny  Never  Before  Existed 

Before  entering  into  power  Mr.  Wilson  announced  that 
he  was  going  to  insist  on  "pitiless  publicity,"  but  as  a  mat- 
ter of  fact  we  have  never  had  an  Administration  where  there 
has  been  so  much  furtive  and  underhand  work.  The  recent 
letter  of  Mr.  Richard  H.  Dana  shows  this  as  regards  the 
civil  service.  It  has  been  the  case  especially  in  the  navy  and 
army,  where  the  tyranny  over  officers,  to  prevent  them  from 
expressing  their  opinions  on  those  military  matters  which 
they  are  most  competent  to  discuss,  has  been  such  as  never 
before  obtained  in  time  of  peace  in  this  country.  I  know 
personally  of  instance  after  instance  where  officers  have 
been  refused  permission  to  express  themselves  on  such  sub- 


True  Americanism  and  National  Defense  131 

jects  as  universal  military  training,  or  on  matters  vital  to 
the  welfare  of  the  navy,  or  where  they  have  been  rebuked 
for  so  expressing  themselves.  I  could  give  the  names  were 
it  not  that  I  would  invite  punishment  upon  the  men  con- 
cerned. 

There  are  certain  matters,  however,  which  have  been 
made  public.  Admiral  Fiske  was  refused  permission  to 
address  the  Commercial  Club  of  Chicago  on  our  naval  needs. 
It  was  announced  in  the  press  that  the  President  of  the 
Naval  War  College  was  severely  reprimanded  for  an  admir- 
able paper  on  naval  needs  read  before  the  Efficiency  Society 
of  New  York.  The  Naval  Institute  was  refused  permission 
to  publish  an  article  of  great  value  on  the  enlisted  personnel 
which  won  honorable  mention.  Under  the  present  adminis- 
tration the  only  publicity  permitted  was  what  would  pro- 
mote the  personal  and  political  self -advertising  of  the  Admin- 
istration. In  no  monarchical  country  of  Europe  has  such  a 
despotic  rule  been  known.  In  Great  Britain  officers  freely 
discuss  naval  needs  and  policies,  and  if  the  people  of  this 
country  were  alive  to  the  needs  of  the  navy  in  this  matter, 
they  would  never  for  an  instant  tolerate  the  deception  con- 
cerning the  true  conditions  of  the  navy  through  the  tyran- 
nical smothering  of  the  truth  in  the  interests  of  the  poli- 
ticians who  now  direct  our  navy.  It  is  peculiarly  easy  for 
a  political  leader  in  high  public  office  to  mislead  our  people 
about  the  navy,  if  he  is  either  a  doctrinaire  or  a  politician. 
It  is  a  branch  of  the  public  service  concerning  which  there 
is  need  of  expert  knowledge;  and  therefore  the  public  can 
readily  be  misled  by  leaders  willing  to  sacrifice  the  welfare 
of  the  nation  in  the  future  to  considerations  of  party  poli- 
tics in  the  present. 

Harm  Done  to  the  Navy 

More  harm  has  been  done  to  the  navy  by  the  politicians 
in  power  during  the  last  three  years  than  in  the  preceding 
thirty.  Whatever  good  has  been  accomplished  in  the  navy 
during  the  last  three  years  has  been  done  by  naval  officers, 
who  in  most  cases  have  been  snubbed  and  punished  for  their 
proposals  as  long  as  it  was  safe  to  do  so ;  whereas  Mr.  Daniels 
now  turns  and  claims  credit  for  what  was  thus  forced  upon 


132  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

him.  For  example,  in  1915,  the  General  Board  demanded 
19,000  men,  and  yet  the  Administration  asked  for  only  10,000 
men.  During  the  years  of  peace  immediately  preceding  the 
present  Administration  some  14,000  men  had  been  added  to 
the  navy,  although  at  that  time  there  was  no  special  strain 
on  the  navy.  After  1913  the  strain  became  acute,  thanks  to 
the  Mexican  trouble  and  the  great  war.  The  proof  of  this 
is  the  action  of  the  Administration  in  at  last  proposing  a 
great  increase  of  the  navy;  for  the  considerations  that  jus- 
tify and  require  this  increase  became  as  strikingly  evident 
two  years  ago  as  they  are  now.  The  action  of  Congress  and 
the  Administration  now  in  doing  what  all  true  friends  of  the 
navy  have  for  years  demanded  can  be  justified  only  if  we 
unhesitatingly  condemn  them  for  not  having  taken  this 
action  two  and  a  quarter  years  ago,  at  which  time  even  the 
blindest  ought  to  have  seen  the  need. 

For  three  years  after  this  Administration  took  office  it 
refused  seriously  to  prepare,  or  even  to  recommend  serious 
preparation,  although  repeatedly  asked  to  do  so  by  the  best 
naval  experts.  Shore  stations  were  stripped  of  men,  and 
ships  placed  put  of  reserve  for  lack  of  men  to  man  new  ships. 
Confusion  and  inefficiency  followed.  The  27,000  additional 
men  authorized  in  the  present  navy  bill  were  allowed-  by 
Congress  on  the  testimony  of  officers,  and  in  direct  opposi- 
tion to  the  Navy  Department. 

In  short,  throughout  President  Wilson's  term  there  has 
been  neglect  or  positive  maladministration  in  connection 
with  departmental  organization  in  navy  yard,  aeronautics, 
mines  and  torpedoes,  and  in  all  other  matters  affecting  the 
efficiency  of  the  fleet  and  the  enthusiasm  of  its  officers  and 
men.  Every  improvement  and  every  advance  has  been  forced 
upon  an  unwilling  Navy  Department  by  the  people  enforc- 
ing their  desires  through  Congress,  or  else  by  officers  of  the 
navy;  and  these  officers  have  received  no  credit  for  their 
self-sacrificing  efforts,  and  in  some  cases  have  been  actually 
rebuffed  or  punished.  The  activity  and  energy  of  the  Navy 
Department  under  President  Wilson  have  been  primarily 
concentrated  upon  schemes  aimed  at  vote-getting  or  adver- 
tising. Strict  military  considerations  affecting  the  efficiency 
and  morale  of  the  officers  and  enlisted  men  were  neglected 


True  Americanism  and  National  Defense  133 

and  thrust  aside  until  the  public  feeling  rendered  it  impera- 
tive that  some  attention  should  be  paid  to  them. 

Had  the  progress  that  had  been  made  in  our  naval  af- 
fairs prior  to  the  incoming  of  this  Administration  been  con- 
tinued ;  had  the  advice  of  Admiral  Fiske  and  other  such  offi- 
cers been  heeded  during  the  last  three  years  of  stagnation 
and  political  domination,  our  navy  would  now  be  in  first- 
class  shape.  The  past  three  years  have  been  the  most  im- 
portant in  world  history  for  a  century,  and  in  our  history 
for  fifty  years,  and  after  August,  1914,  our  needs  were  so 
evident  that  it  was  a  crime  against  the  nation  to  disregard 
them.  But  the  present  Administration  took  no  action  what- 
ever until,  with  the  opening  of  the  present  political  cam- 
paign, it  became  politically  unsafe  longer  to  delay. 

Under  Mr.  Wilson  and  Mr.  Daniels  the  conditions  in  our 
navy  have  closely  paralleled  the  conditions  in  the  French 
Navy  a  dozen  years  ago.  A  capital  French  book,  published 
in  1904  from  the  soundest  patriotic  motives,  describes  what 
was  done  in  the  French  navy  just  prior  to  that  time,  under 
an  incompetent  civilian  head  who  made  it  his  business  to 
lessen  the  efficiency  of  the  fighting  forces  of  the  navy  by 
treating  the  navy  as  primarily  a  political  asset,  and  also 
using  it  to  advance  injurious  fads.  All  intelligent  observers 
of  foreign  affairs  knew  at  that  time  that  the  French  navy 
was  in  a  state  of  demoralization,  for  that  was  in  the  period 
when  the  professional  pacifists  gained  an  influence  in  French 
administration,  which,  if  it  had  not  been  speedily  overcome, 
would  have  resulted  in  the  absolute,  complete  ruin  of  France. 
The  widespread  demoralization  in  the  navy  of  France  when 
it  was  dominated  by  irresponsible  politicians  who  treated  it 
primarily  as  an  asset  in  partisan  politics  bears  an  ominous 
resemblance  to  what  has  occurred  in  connection  with  the 
mishandling  of  our  own  navy  under  President  Wilson. 


THE  SOUL  OF  THE  NATION 
Cooper  Union,  New  York,  November  3, 1916 


New  York,  Oct.  24th,  1916. 

Honorable  Theodore  Roosevelt, 

en  route,  Denver,  Colorado. 

It  is  our  conviction  that  no  other  Presidential  campaign 
in  the  history  of  the  United  States  has  presented  graver 
issues  or  more  far-reaching  problems  than  does  this.  Not 
only  is  the  domestic  welfare  of  the  nation  profoundly  to  be 
affected  by  the  result,  but  the  honor  and  the  very  safety  of 
the  Republic  are  at  stake. 

Upon  the  character  and  the  policies  of  the  next  Admin- 
istration will  depend  the  course  of  the  United  States  during 
its  most  critical  years.  As  business  men  and  as  loyal  citi- 
zens ive  are  deeply  concerned  in  aiding  to  bring  about  a 
decision  that  will  restore  sound  principles  and  true  Amer- 
icanism to  the  conduct  of  our  national  affairs. 

In  this  momentous  hour  the  vital  need  is  for  such  a 
presentation  of  the  issues  as  will  arrest  the  widest  attention 
and  carry  the  clearest  message  to  the  public  mind.  And  this 
task  we  commend  to  your  hands. 

No  living  American  has  a  greater  audience.  Already 
you  have  done  memorable  service  to  your  country  in  awak- 
ening it  to  a  sense  of  its  perils  and  obligations,  and  you  have 
revealed  an  unselfish  patriotism  that  makes  your  voice  sin- 
gularly potent  in  counsel  and  inspiration.  Will  you  not  lend 
it  to  the  cause  once  more,  by  addressing  the  people  of  the 
nation  from  the  vantage  ground  of  a  great  mass  meeting  in 
the  metropolis?  Under  these  circumstances  a  message 
from  Theodore  Roosevelt  on  (t  America's  Crisis"  would  ring 
from-coast  to  coast,  and  might  be  the  final  means  of  avoid- 
ing a  calamitous  decision  at  the  polls. 

The  undersigned  suggest  Cooper  Union  as  the  place, 

134 


The  Soul  of  the  Nation  135 

and  an  evening  during  the  week  of  October  23d-28th  as  the 
time.  Severally  and  unitedly  we  urge  upon  you  acceptance 
of  this  great  opportunity  for  public  service. 

JOHN  G.  SHEDD,  Chicago,  111. 

R.  LIVINGSTON  BEEKMAN,  Providence,  R.  I. 

CHARLES  CURTIS  HARRISON,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

WILLIAM  BARBOUR,  New  York. 

ANDREW  D.  WHITE,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

JOSEPH  S.  FRELINGHUYSEN,  Somerville,  N.  J. 

DARWIN  P.  KINGSLEY,  New  York. 

MYRON  T.  HERRICK,  Cleveland,  Ohio. 

HORATIO  C.  KING,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

DAVID  JAY'NE  HILL,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

JOHN  B.  FARWELL,  Chicago,  111. 

FREDERICK  TALCOTT,  New  York. 

JOHN  WANAMAKER,  Philadelphia. 

HAMILTON  FISH,  Garrison,  N.  Y. 

CHARLES  SUMNER  BIRD,  East  Walpole,  Mass. 

JULIUS  ROSENWALD,  Chicago,  111. 

GEORGE  C.  RIGGS,  New  York. 

H.  J.  HEINZ,  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

ISAAC  N.  SELIGMAN,  'New  York. 

WARNER  MILLER,  Herkimer,  N.  Y. 

NATHAN  T.  FOLWELL,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

THOMAS  R.  PROCTOR,  Utica,  N.  Y. 

TRUMAN  H.  NEWBERRY,  Detroit,  Mich. 

LLOYD  GRISCOM,  New  York. 

SYLVESTER  S.  MARVIN,  Bryn  Mawr,  Pa. 


I  am  glad  to  speak  in  this  historic  building,  at  the  re- 
quest of  men  of  such  high  standing  as  those  who  have  asked 
me  to  speak;  and  I  thank  them  for  having  asked  me  to  speak 
on  the  most  vital  of  all  present-day  questions,  the  "Nation's 
Crisis/'  a  crisis  preeminently  moral  and  spiritual. 

There  can  be  no  greater  misfortune  for  a  free  nation 
than  to  find  itself  under  incapable  leadership  when  confront- 
ed by  a  great  crisis.  This  is  peculiarly  the  case  when  the 
crisis  is  not  merely  one  in  its  own  history,  but  is  due  to  some 


136  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

terrible  world  cataclysm — such  a  cataclysm  as  at  this  mo- 
ment has  overwhelmed  civilization.  The  times  have  needed 
a  Washington  or  a  Lincoln.  Unfortunately  we  have  been 
granted  only  another  Buchanan. 

The  appeal  is  made  on  behalf  of  Mr.  Wilson  that  we 
should  not  change  horses  in  crossing  a  stream.  The  worth 
of  such  an  appeal  -is  not  obvious  when  the  horse,  whenever 
he  comes  to  a  stream,  first  pretends  he  is  going  to  jump  it, 
then  refuses  to  enter  it,  and  when  he  has  reached  the  middle 
alternately  moves  feebly  forward  and  feebly  backward,  and 
occasionally  lies  down.  We  had  just  entered  the  greatest 
crisis  in  our  history  when  we  "swapped  horses"  by  exchan- 
ging Buchanan  for  Lincoln;  and  if  we  had  not  made  the 
exchange  we  would  never  have  crossed  the  stream  at  all. 
The  failure  now  to  change  Mr.  Wilson  for  Mr.  Hughes  would 
be  almost  as  damaging. 

Washington  and  Lincoln  confronted  crises  of  different 
types,  and  therefore  in  any  given  crisis  it  is  now  the  example 
of  one,  now  the  example  of  the  other,  which  it  is  most  essen- 
tial for  us  to  follow.  Each  stood  absolutely  for  the  National 
ideal,  for  a  full  Union  of  all  our  people,  perpetual  and  in- 
destructible, and  for  the  full  employment  of  our  entire  col- 
lective strength  to  any  extent  that  was  necessary  in  order 
to  meet  the  nation's  needs.  Lincoln  had  to  deal  with  vital 
questions  of  internal  reform,  and  with  the  overturning  of 
internal  forces  tending  toward  the  destruction  of  the  Union. 
Washington  had  to  deal  primarily,  not  only  with  the  creation 
of  our  Union,  but  with  the  maintenance  of  our  liberty  against 
all  adverse  forces  from  without.  This  country  must  learn 
the  lessons  taught  by  both  careers,  and  must  apply  the 
principles  established  by  those  careers  to  the  ever-changing 
conditions  of  the  present,  or  sooner  or  later  it  will  go  down 
in  utter  ruin. 

The  lesson  of  nationalism  and  therefore  of  efficient  ac- 
tion through  the  national  government  is  taught  by  both 
careers.  At  the  present  moment  we  need  to  apply  this  prin- 
ciple in  our  social  and  industrial  life  to  a  degree  far  greater 
than  was  the  case  in  either  Washington's  day  or,  Lincoln's. 

The  expansion  of  our  people  across  the  continent  has 
gone  hand  in  hand  with  their  immense  concentration  in 


The  Soul  of  the  Nation  137 

great  cities,  and  with  gigantic  changes  in  the  machinery  of 
communication,  transportation,  and  production;  changes 
which  have  worked  a  business  revolution  almost  as  vast  as 
that  worked  by  all  similar  revolutions  put  together  since  the 
the  days  of  the  Roman  Empire.  Therefore  we  are  now 
forced  to  face  problems  not  only  new  in  degree,  but  new  in 
kind.  We  must  face  these  problems  in  the  spirit  of  Wash- 
ington and  Lincoln ;  but  our  methods  in  industrial  life  must 
differ  as  completely  from  those  that  obtained  in  the  times 
of  those  two  great  men  of  the  past  as  the  weapons  of  war- 
fare now  differ  from  the  flintlocks  of  Washington's  soldiers, 
or  the  muzzle-loading  smooth-bores  of  Lincoln's  day.  We 
must  quit  the  effort  to  meet  modern  conditions  by  flintlock 
legislation.  We  must  recognize,  as  modern  Germany  has 
recognized,  that  it  is  folly  either  to  try  to  cripple  business 
by  making  it  ineffective,  or  to  fail  to  insist  that  the  wage- 
worker  and  consumer  must  be  given  their  full  share  of  the 
prosperity  that  comes  from  the  successful  application  and 
use  of  modern  industrial  instrumentalities.  Both  capitalists 
and  wageworkers  must  understand  that  the  performance  of 
duties  and  the  enjoyment  of  rights  go  hand  in  hand.  Any 
shirking  of  obligation  toward  the  nation,  and  towards  the 
people  that  make  up  the  nation,  deprives  the  offenders  of  all 
moral  right  to  the  enjoyment  of  privileges  of  any  kind. 
This  applies  alike  to  corporations  and  to  labor  unions,  to  rich 
men  and  poor  men,  to  big  men  and  little  men. 

There  can  be  no  genuine  feeling  of  patriotism  of  the 
kind  that  makes  all  men  willing  and  eager  to  die  for  the  land, 
unless  there  has  been  some  measure  of  success  in  making 
the  land  worth  living  in  for  all  alike,  whatever  their  station, 
so  long  as  they  do  their  duty ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  no 
man  has  a  right  to  enjoy  any  benefits  whatever  from  living 
in  the  land  in  time  of  peace,  unless  he  is  trained  physically 
and  spiritually  so  that  if  duty  calls  he  can  and  will  do  his 
part  to  keep  the  land  against  all  alien  aggression.  Every 
citizen  of  this  land,  every  American  of  whatever  creed  or 
national  origin,  should  keep  in  mind  the  injunction  of  George 
Washington  to  his  nephews,  when  in  his  will  dated  July  9th, 
1799,  he  bequeathed  to  each  of  them  a  sword,  making  the 
bequest  in  the  following  words: 


138  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

"The  swords  are  accompanied  with  an  injunc- 
tion not  to  unsheathe  them  for  the  purpose  of 
shedding  blood,  except  it  be  for  self-defense,  or 
in  defense  of  their  country  and  its  rights;  and  in 
the  latter  case  to  keep  them  unsheathed  and  prefer 
falling  with  them  in  their  hands  to  the  relinquish- 
ment  thereof." 

These  are  noble  words.  Remember  that  they  gained 
their  nobility  only  because  the  deeds  of  Washington  had 
been  such  that  he  had  a  right  to  utter  them.  His  sword  had 
been  sheathed  until  he  drew  it  on  behalf  of  national  liberty 
and  of  humanity,  and  then  it  was  kept  unsheathed  until 
victory  came.  His  sword  was  a  terror  to  the  powers  of  evil. 
It  was  a  flame  of  white  fire  in  the  eyes  of  those  who  fought 
for  what  was  right. 

Washington  loved  peace.  Perhaps  Lincoln  loved  peace 
even  more.  But  when  the  choice  was  between  peace  and 
righteousness,  both  alike  trod  undaunted  the  dark  path  that 
led  through  terror  and  suffering  and  the  imminent  menace 
of  death  to  the  shining  goal  beyond.  We  treasure  the  lofty 
words  these  men  spoke.  We  treasure  them  because  they 
were  not  merely  words,  but  the  high  expression  of  deeds 
still  higher ;  the  expression  of  a  serene  valor  that  was  never 
betrayed  by  a  cold  heart  or  a  subtle  and  selfish  brain. 
We  treasure  what  Washington  enjoined  on  his  blood-kin 
as  their  duty  when  they  should  inherit  his  swords ;  but  we 
do  so  only  because  Washington's  own  sword  never  slipped 
from  a  hand  made  irresolute  by  fear.  We  treasure  the 
words  that  Lincoln  spoke  at  Gettysburg,  and  in  his  second 
inaugural;  words  spoken  with  the  inspiration  of  a  prbphet 
of  old,  standing  between  the  horns  of  the  altar,  while  the 
pillars  of  the  temple  reeled  round  about.  The  words  spoken 
by  Lincoln  were  spoken  when  he  was  weighed  down  by  iron 
grief,  and  yet  was  upheld  by  an  iron  will,  so  that  he  stood 
erect  while  the  foundations  of  the  country  rocked  beneath 
his  feet,  and  with  breaking  heart  and  undaunted  soul  poured 
out,  as  if  it  were  a  libation,  the  life  blood  of  the  best 
and  bravest  of  the  land.  We  cherish  these  words  of  his  only 
because  they  were  made  good  by  his  deeds.  We  remember 
that  he  said  that  a  government  dedicated  to  freedom  should 


The  Soul  of  the  Nation  139 

not  perish  from  the  earth.  We  remember  it  only  because 
he  did  not  let  the  government  perish.  We  remember  that 
he  said  that  the  bondman  should  be  free  at  whatever  cost. 
We  remember  it  only  because  he  paid  the  cost  and  set  the 
bondman  free. 

When  Lincoln  accepted  the  nomination  of  the  Repub- 
lican Party  in  1860,  he  spoke  of  the  platform  of  that  party  as 
follows : 

"The  declaration  of  principles  and  sentiments 
which  accompanies  your  letter  meets  my  approval, 
and  it  shall  be  my  care  not  to  violate  or  disregard 
them  in  any  part." 

This  was  a  short  statement.  It  derived  its  value  from 
the  fact  that  it  was  a  promise  that  was  kept.  I  ask  you  to 
compare  this  record  of  Lincoln's  with  the  cynicism  shown 
by  Mr.  Wilson  at  different  times  in  repudiating  almost  every 
promise  he  has  ever  made  on  any  matter  of  vital  importance. 
He  has  repudiated  the  promises  of  the  platform  on  which 
he  was  elected.  He  has  repudiated  the  promises  he  made  on 
the  stump  to  further  his  own  election.  He  has  now  repu- 
diated about  all  the  promises  which  he  has  made  since  he  be- 
came President. 

I  have  been  assailed  because  I  have  criticised  Mr.  Wil- 
son. I  have  not  said  one  thing  of  him  that  was  not  abso- 
lutely accurate  and  truthful.  I  have  not  said  one  thing  of 
him  which  I  did  not  deem  it  necessary  to  say  because  of  the 
vital  interests  of  this  Republic.  I  have  criticised  him  be- 
cause I  believe  he  has  dragged  in  the  dust  what  was  most 
sacred  in  our  past,  and  has  jeopardized  the  most  vital  hopes 
of  our  future.  I  have  never  spoken  of  him  as  strongly  as 
Abraham  Lincoln  in  his  day  spoke  of  Buchanan  and  Pierce 
when  they  were  Presidents  of  the  United  States.  I  spoke 
of  him  at  all,  only  because  I  have  felt  that  in  this  great  world 
crisis  he  has  played  a  more  evil  part  than  Buchanan  and 
Pierce  ever  played  in  the  years  that  led  up  to  and  saw  the 
opening  of  the  Civil  War.  I  criticise  him  now  because  he  has 
adroitly  and  cleverly  and  with  sinister  ability  appealed  to 
all  that  is  weakest  and  most  unworthy  in  the  American  char- 
acter ;  and  also  because  he  has  adroitly  and  cleverly  and  with 


140  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

sinister  ability  sought  to  mislead  many  men  and  women 
who  are  neither  weak  nor  unworthy,  but  who  have  been  mis- 
led by  a  shadow  dance  of  words.  He  has  made  our  states- 
manship a  thing  of  empty  elocution.  He  has  covered  his 
fear  of  standing  for  the  right  behind  a  veil  of  rhetorical 
phrases.  He  has  wrapped  the  true  heart  of  the  nation  in  a 
spangled  shroud  of  rhetoric.  He  has  kept  the  eyes  of  the 
people  dazzled  so  that  they  know  not  what  is  real  and  what 
is  false,  so  that  they  turn,  bewildered,  unable  to  discern  the 
difference  between  the  glitter  that  veneers  evil  and  the 
stark  realities  of  courage  and  honesty,  of  truth  and  strength. 
In  the  face  of  the  world  he  has  covered  this  nation's  face 
with*  shame  as  with  a  garment. 

I  hardly  know  whether  to  feel  the.  most  burning  indig- 
nation at  those  speeches  of  his  wherein  he  expresses  lofty 
sentiments  which  his  deeds  belie,  or  at  those  other  speeches 
wherein  he  displays  a  frank  cynicism  of  belief  in,  and  of 
appeal  to,  what  is  basest  in  the  human  heart.  In  a  recent 
speech  at  Long  Branch  he  said  to  our  people,  as  reported 
in  the  daily  press,  that  "You  cannot  worship  God  on  an 
empty  stomach,  and  you  cannot  be  a  patriot  when  you  are 
starving."  No  more  sordid  untruth  was  ever  uttered.  Is 
it  possible  that  Mr.  Wilson,  who  professes  to  be  a  historian, 
who  has  been  a  college  president,  and  passes  for  a  man  of 
learning,  knows  nothing  either  of  religion  or  of  patriotism? 
Does  he  not  know  that  never  yet  was  there  a  creed  worth 
having,  the  professors  of  which  did  not  fervently  worship 
God  whether  their  stomachs  were  full  or  empty?  Does  he 
not  know  that  never  yet  was  there  a  country  worth  living 
in  which  did  not  develop  among  her  sons  something  at  least 
of  that  nobility  of  soul  which  makes  men  not  only  serve  their 
country  when  they  are  starving,  but  when  death  has  set  its 
doom  on  their  faces  ? 

Such  a  sentence  as  this  could  be  uttered  only  by  a  Presi- 
dent who  cares  nothing  for  the  nation's  soul,  and  who  be- 
lieves that  the  nation  itself  puts  its  belly  above  its  soul. 
No  wonder  that  when  such  a  doctrine  is  preached  by  the 
President,  his  Secretary  of  War  should  compare  Washington 
and  Washington's  soldiers  with  the  bandit  chiefs  of  Mexico 
and  their  followers  who  torture  men  and  murder  children, 


The  Soul  of  the  Nation  141 

and  commit  nameless  outrages  on  women.  This  sentence 
is  as  bad  as  anything  Secretary  Baker  himself  said.  I  call 
the  attention  of  these  apostles  of  the  full  belly,  of  these 
men  who  jeer  at  the  nation's  soul,  I  call  the  attention  of 
President  Wilson  and  his  Secretary  of  War  and  his  Secretary 
of  the  Navy,  to  what  Washington  said  of  his  own  soldiers 
when  he  spoke  of  them  in  a  letter  to  Congress  on  April  21st, 
1778: 

"Without  arrogance  or  the  slightest  deviation 
from  truth,  it  may  be  said  that  no  history  now  ex- 
tant can  furnish  an  instance  of  an  army's  suffering 
such  uncommon  hardships  as  ours  has  done  and 
bearing  them  with  the  same  patience  and  forti- 
tude. To  see  men  without  clothes  to  cover  their 
nakedness,  without  blankets  to  lie  on,  without 
shoes  for  the  want  of  which  their  marches  might 
be  traced  by  the  blood  from  their  feet,  and  almost 
as  often  without  provisions  as  with  them,  march- 
ing through  the  frost  and  snow  and  at  Christmas 
taking  up  their  winter  quarters  within  a  day's 
march  of  the  enemy  without  a  house  or  a  hut  to 
cover  them  till  they  could  be  built,  and  submitting 
without  a  murmur,  is  a  proof  of  patience  and  obe- 
dience which,  in  my  opinion,  can  scarce  be  para- 
lleled." 

i 

That  is  what  Washington  said.  Does  Mr.  Wilson  think 
that  these  men  of  Valley  Forge  were  not  patriots,  because 
they  were  starving?  Is  his  own  soul  so  small  that  he  cannot 
see  the  greatness  of  soul  of  Washington  and  of  the  Conti- 
nental soldiers  whose  feet  left  bloody  tracks  upon  the  snow 
as  they  marched  towards  the  enemy?  They  were  clad  in 
rags ;  their  eyes  were  hollow  with  famine ;  their  bodies  were 
numbed  with  cold  and  racked  with  fever;  but  they  loved 
their  country ;  they  stood  for  the  soul  of  the  nation  and  not 
for  its  belly.  Mr.  Baker  and  Mr.  Daniels  have  done  evil  to 
this  country  only  because  they  stood  where  their  master, 
Mr.  Wilson,  had  placed  them.  Mr.  Baker  has  preached  the 
doctrine  of  contempt  for  the  men  of  the  Revolution  only 
because  he  has  followed  the  lead  of  the  President,  who  says 


142  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

that  religion  is  merely  a  matter  of  a  full  stomach,  and  that 
patriotism  vanishes  when  heroes  feel  the  pinch  of  famine. 
I  call  your  attention  to  these  statements  not  only  because 
they  are  foul  slanders  on  everything  that  is  good  in  human 
nature,  not  only  because  they  are  a  foul  slander  on  every 
American  worth  calling  an  American,  but  because  they  show 
the  character  of  Mr.  Wilson  himself. 

So  much  for  Mr.  Wilson  when  he  says  what  he  really 
feels.  Now  a  word  about  what  he  says  when  he  speaks 
what  it  is  quite  impossible  that  he  really  believes.  On  last 
Saturday  afternoon,  with  an  effrontery  that  is  literally 
dumbfounding,  he  said  that  when  he  "started  in  one  direc- 
tion" he  "would  never  turn  around  and  go  back,"  and  that  he 
"had  acted  upon  this  principle  all  his  life,"  and  that  he  "in- 
tended to  act  upon  it  in  the  future,"  and  that  he  "did  not  see 
any  obstacle  that  would  make  him  turn  back."  Why,  his 
whole  record  has  consisted  in  turning  back  at  every  point 
when  he  was  bidden  to  do  so  by  either  fear  or  self-interest. 
He  has  reversed  himself  on  almost  every  important  position 
he  has  ever  taken.  There  is  not  a  bandit  leader  in  Mexico 
who  does  not  know  that  if  he  can  show  enough  strength  he 
can  at  any  moment  make  Mr.  Wilson  not  merely  turn  back, 
but  humbly  kiss  his  hand ;  kiss  the  hand  that  is  red  with  the 
blood  of  our  men,  women  and  children.  Mr.  Wilson  says 
that  he  "never  turns  back !"  Why,  he  has  been  conducting 
his  whole  campaign  on  the  appeal  that  he  has  "kept  us  out 
of  war" ;  and  yet  last  Thursday,  without  a  moment's  notice, 
and  only  ten  days  before  election,  after  having  been  going 
full  speed  in  one  direction,  he  turned  around  and  went  full 
speed  in  the  reverse  direction  on  this  very  point;  saying, 
forsooth,  that  if  there  was  another  war  we  must  not  keep 
out  of  it !  He  has  been  claiming  credit  because  in  the  case 
of  Belgium  he  has  preserved  a  neutrality  that  would  make 
Pontius  Pilate  quiver  with  envy ;  and  yet  in  this  speech  last 
Thursday  he  said  that  never  again  must  we  be  neutral !  He 
has  kept  us  absolutely  unprepared;  so  that  now  we  are  as 
absolutely  unprepared,  after  he  has  been  in  office  three  and 
a  half  years,  as  we  were  when  he  took  office ;  and  yet  he  now 
says  that  we  must  enter  the  next  war  whenever  one  comes ! 
He  has  looked  on  without  a  single  throb  of  his  cold  heart, 


The  Soul  of  the  Nation  143 

without  the  least  quickening  of  his  tepid  pulse,  while  gallant 
Belgium  was  trampled  into  bloody  mire,  while  the  Turk 
inflicted  on  the  Armenian  and  Syrian  Christians  wrongs 
that  would  have  blasted  the  memory  of  Attila,  and  he  has 
claimed  credit  for  his  neutral  indifference  to  their  suffering ; 
and  yet  now,  ten  days  before  election,  he  says  the 
United  States  must  hereafter  refuse  to  allow  small  nations 
to  be  mishandled  by  big,  powerful  nations.  Do  it  now,  Mr. 
Wilson!  If  you  mean  what  you  say,  Mr.  Wilson,  show  that 
you  mean  it  by  your  action  in  the  present. 

There  is  no  more  evil  lesson  that  can  be  taught  this  peo- 
ple than  to  cover  up  failure  in  the  performance  of  duty  in  the 
present  by  the  utterance  of  glittering  generalities  as  to  the 
performance  of  duty  in  the  nebulous  future.  With  all  my 
heart  I  believe  in  seeing  this  country  prepare  its  own  soul 
and  body  so  that  it  can  stand  up  for  the  weak  when  they  are 
oppressed  by  the  strong.  But  before  it  can  do  so  it  must 
fit  itself  to  defend  its  own  rights,  and  it  must  stand  for  the 
rights  of  its  citizens.  During  the  last  three  years  and  a 
half,  hundreds  of  American  men,  women  and  children  have 
been  murdered  on  the  high  seas,  and  in  Mexico.  Mr.  Wil- 
son has  not  dared  to  stand  up  for  them.  He  has  let  them 
suffer  without  relief,  and  without  inflicting  punishment 
upon  the  wrongdoers.  When  he  announces  that  in  some  dim 
future  he  intends  to  stand  up  for  the  rights  of  others,  let 
him  make  good  in  the  present  by  now  standing  up  for  the 
rights  of  our  own  people.  He  wrote  Germany  that  he  would 
hold  her  to  "strict  accountability"  if  an  American  lost  his 
life  on  an  American  or  neutral  ship  by  her  submarine  war- 
fare. Forthwith  the  Arabic  and  the  Gulflight  were  sunk. 
But  Mr.  Wilson  dared  not  take  any  action  to  make  his  threat 
effective.  He  held  Germany  to  no  accountability,  loose  or 
strict.  Germany  despised  him ;  and  the  Lusitania  was  sunk 
in  consequence.  Thirteen  hundred  and  ninety-four  people 
were  drowned,  one  hundred  and  three  of  them  babies  under 
two  years  of  age.  Two  days  later,  while  the  dead  mothers 
with  their  dead  babies  in  their  arms  lay  by  scores  in  the 
Queenstown  morgue,  Mr.  Wilson  selected  the  moment  as 
opportune  to  utter  his  famous  sentence  about  being  "Too 
proud  to  fight."  Mr.  Wilson  now  dwells  at  Shadow  Lawn. 


144  Americanism  and  Preparedness 

There  should  be  shadows  enough  at  Shadow  Lawn ;  the 
shadows  of  men,  women  arid  children  who  have  risen  from 
the  ooze  of  the  ocean  bottom  and  from  graves  in  foreign 
lands ;  the  shadows  of  the  helpless  whom  Mr.  Wilson  did  not 
dare  protect  lest  he  might  have  to  face  danger ;  the  shadows 
of  babies  gasping  pitifully  as  they  sank  under  the  waves; 
the  shadows  of  women  outraged  and  slain  by  bandits ;  the 
shadows  of  Boyd  and  Adair  and  their  troopers  who  lay  in  the 
Mexican  desert,  the  black  blood  crusted  round  their  mouths, 
and  their  dim  eyes  looking  upward,  because  President  Wil- 
son had  sent  them  to  do  a  task,  and  had  then  shamefully 
abandoned  them  to  the  mercy  of  foes  who  knew  no  mercy. 
Those  are  the  shadows  proper  for  Shadow  Lawn;  the 
shadows  of  deeds  that  were  never  done ;  the  shadows  of  lofty 
words  that  were  followed  by  no  action;  the  shadows  of  the 
tortured  dead. 

The  titanic  war  still  staggers  to  and  fro  across  the 
continent  of  Europe.  The  nations  engaged  in  the  death 
wrestle  still  show  no  sign  of  letting  up.  Some  time  in  the 
next  four  years  the  end  will  come,  and  then  no  human  being 
can  tell  what  this  nation  will  have  to  face.  If  we  were  ready 
and  able  to  defend  ourselves  and  to  do  our  duty  to  others, 
and  if  our  abilities  were  backed  by  an  iron  willingness  to 
show  courage  and  good  faith  on  behalf  both  of  ourselves 
and  of  others,  not  only  would  our  own  place  in  the  world  be 
secure,  but  we  might  render  incalculable  service  to  other 
nations.  If  we  elect  Mr.  Wilson  it  will  be  serving  notice  on 
the  world  that  the  traditions,  the  high  moral  standards,  the 
courageous  purposes  of  Washington  and  Lincoln  have  been 
obscured,  and  that  in  their  stead  we  have  deliberately  elect- 
ed to  show  ourselves  for  the  time  being  a  sordid,  soft  and 
spineless  nation;  content  to  accept  any  and  every  insult; 
content  to  pay  no  heed  to  the  most  flagrant  wrongs  done  to 
the  small  and  weak ;  allowing  our  men,  women  and  children 
to  be  murdered  and  outraged ;  anxious  only  to  gather  every 
dollar  that  we  can,  to  spend  it  in  luxury,  and  to  replace  it  by 
any  form  of  moneymaking  which  we  can  follow  with  safety 
to  our  own  bodies. 

We  cannot  for  our  own  sakes,  we  cannot  for  the  sake 
of  the  world  at  large,  afford  to  take  such  a  position.  In 


The  Soul  of  the  Nation  145 

place  of  the  man  who  is  now  in  the  White  House,  who  has 
wrought  such  shame  on  our  people,  let  us  put  in  the  Presi- 
dential chair  the  clean  and  upright  Justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  the  fearless  Governor  of  New  York,  whose  whole 
public  record  has  been  that  of  a  man  straightforward  in  his 
thoughts  and  courageous  in  his  actions,  who  cannot  be  con- 
trolled to  do  what  is  wrong,  and  who  will  do  what  is  right  no 
matter  what  influences  may  be  brought  against  him. 


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